


Checked Out

by daydreamsofdragons



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Complete, Female Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Hacking, Ice Hockey AU, Ice Skating, M/M, References to Drugs, Shiro (Voltron) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-10 00:29:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7823185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydreamsofdragons/pseuds/daydreamsofdragons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Katie Holt's brother and father go missing, she becomes Pidge Gunderson in an attempt to join her brother's ice hockey team and gain access to his mysterious teammate, Shiro, who might know more than he's telling.<br/>She quickly befriends the rest of Team Voltron and together they try to take down their ice hockey rivals - Team Galra.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In which Pidge Goes to Tryouts

**Author's Note:**

> What you never knew you needed - a Voltron ice hockey au!

It had taken weeks of preparation, but Pidge Gunderson was finally ready. That is to say, Katie Holt, under the guise of Pidge Gunderson, was finally ready. She examined herself in the dorm room mirror critically. Her hair felt strange and light at this length, and it curled however it wanted no matter what she did to it. She picked up Matt's old glasses from the bedside cabinet and put them on. She blinked. People had always said she and her brother looked alike, but she'd never really seen it until now. She took a deep breath, holding back the emotion that welled in her chest.  
"I'm going to find you," she whispered.  
She'd had to do a lot of persuading to convince her mother to let her join the academy Matt had gone to. Since his and her father's disappearance, it had been difficult to persuade her mother to let her do much of anything.  
Of course, she could have just run away to follow the lead, but the idea of letting her mother think she'd lost not one child, but two, was too much.  
After convincing her mother that this was the only way for her to feel close to Matt and finally start to move on, it had only taken a few simple hacks into the school system to enrol 'Pidge Gunderson'. Katie - no, it was Pidge now - smirked to herself. The academy really needed to update its firewall. She pulled the leaflet from her otherwise bare noticeboard.

JOIN TEAM VOLTRON, it proclaimed. MEN'S ICE HOCKEY TRYOUTS THIS TUESDAY. GO LIONS!

The team mascot, a multi-coloured lion, roared underneath the words. Pidge nodded to herself.  
Time for phase two.  
*  
The ice rink rang out with the sounds of hockey pucks. The team were already on the ice, doing warm ups. The stadium was pretty quiet - ice hockey apparently wasn’t the biggest priority around. That suited Pidge fine. Matt had been a great tutor, and she'd even played for the girls' team at her old school, but she wasn’t exactly star material like Matt. The less competition the better - she HAD to make the team, or this would all be for nothing. Pidge leaned against the glass to watch the players. Her eyes instinctively searched out Shiro. He and Matt were close friends - they had been defensemen together. He had gone missing around the same time as Matt and her father and yet, he had returned, and they had not.  
She had to know why.  
At first, she wondered if Shiro had been kicked off the team. Then she saw him, standing next to a tall boy with a mischievous grin. It took her a moment to recognise him.  
Shiro had changed a lot since she last saw him.  
His hair, once dark, had gone grey, with a tuft of white at the front. A red scar cut across his nose, and... was that a prosthetic arm under his jersey? Pidge pressed her nose up against the glass, unease curling in her stomach.  
"What happened to you?" she muttered.  
"Hello, are you here for the tryouts?"  
Pidge jumped and spun around, to see a young woman with dark skin and white hair piled into a bun standing behind her. The woman smiled apologetically.  
"I am sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," she said. She had a clipped English accent. "My name is Allura. I'm the Team Manager of Voltron."  
"I'm K-Pidge," Pidge stammered, embarrassed at being taken by surprise. "Pidge Gunderson."  
Allura scribbled onto a form on her pink clipboard, then handed it over to Pidge. "If you could just sign here, and we can get started!" she said with a smile.  
Pidge signed with the fake signature she had practiced over and over, and Allura took back the clipboard.  
"Wonderful!" she exclaimed. She looked past Pidge to the rink. "And here they come." She smiled at Pidge. "Good luck!"  
Pidge turned back to the rink. The team had arrived at the edge. Shiro gazed out of the small gathering of hopefuls.  
"Hello everyone, and welcome to the tryouts for Castle Academy's men’s ice hockey team, My name is Takashi Shirogane, and I am the captain and defenseman of Team Voltron. But you can call me Shiro." He gestured to the other two on the rink. "This is Lance, right winger." The boy with the mischievous grin shot them with finger guns. "And this is Hunk. He's the goalie." Hunk was a big guy with an orange headband tied around his forehead. He gave them a shy wave.  
"Uh, hi guys," he said.  
A man with a lustrous ginger moustache appeared from around the corner. He gazed at the hopefuls, then back at Shiro, with a look of vague confusion. "They're here already?" he whispered loudly to Shiro, as if they weren't literally standing right in front of him. He spoke with a New Zealand twang.  
Shiro tried his best to keep a straight face. "Yes, Coach."  
Lance jabbed Hunk in the side, sniggering behind his hand.  
Moustache man's eyes widened. "Ah," he said, "I'm late. Well." He pulled at his moustache and twiddled it between his first finger and thumb. "Not to worry, I'm sure Shiro knows what he’s doing. I'm Coran, coach of Team Voltron. Now, let's get started."  
Shiro lead them all onto the ice and through a series of drills.  
Pidge kept an eye on the other hopefuls as she skated. It was pretty easy to steal the puck from most of them, except one, who always seemed to know where she was going to go. He was much taller than her, like most of the others, and his face was completely serious. His hairstyle could only be described as a mullet. Pidge shot him a glare as he stole the puck right from under her nose and shot it at the goal. Hunk dived for it, missed, and it spun into the back of the net. But the guy didn't even crack a smile. Just that dead serious look. Pidge scowled. Her only real competition.  
Shiro skated over and patted Mr Serious on the back. "Nice shot, Keith," he said.  
Keith nodded.  
And it seemed Pidge wasn't the only one irritated by Keith. Lance too, was shooting him a death glare from behind Shiro.  
Finally, tryouts were over, and they skated to the benches.  
"Everyone did a great job today," said Shiro. "We'll be putting the names of those who made the team up on the noticeboard first thing tomorrow." And with that, he headed off towards the changing rooms.  
Pidge watched him go. He seemed so closed off. She sighed. Getting information out of him was going to be a struggle, even if she made the team. At least he hadn't recognised her.  
She waited as the other hopefuls drifted back to the changing rooms. She didn't like the idea of changing in front of a bunch of sweaty guys. She'd wait until they'd gone. Soon only Keith was still sitting on the bench, gazing out at the ice. Lance stomped over to him with remarkable balance, considering he was still wearing his skates.  
"So, Keith," he said, casually leaning against the barrier. "Thought you dropped out."  
Keith looked up and frowned irritably. "Have we met?"  
Lance actually stumbled back, instantly dropping the nonchalant act. His voice broke a little as he yelped, "I'm Lance! We were in the same class!"  
Keith's expression didn't change.  
Lance shook his head in disbelief. "We were rivals, remember? Lance and Keith, neck and neck?"  
Keith stood up. "Oh, I remember, you were a backbencher."  
Lance folded his arms. "Yeah, well, not anymore. Not since you flunked out. How come you're back at school? Last I heard you were kicked out with 'discipline issues'."  
"Lance," Hunk warned, looking up from his bag of crisps.  
Lance turned to his teammate. "What? I'm just stating facts."  
Keith began to walk away. "I'm going to the changing rooms."  
"Oh yeah?" Lance challenged. "Well…so am I!" He stomped after Keith.  
Hunk trailed behind him. Then he noticed Pidge, still sitting on the bench. "Oh, hey, Pidge right? You did good today."  
Pidge's face broke into a smile. She watched as Hunk followed the others to the changing rooms. Maybe she did have a chance after all.


	2. In which Team Voltron is Not Much of a Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Voltron has their first practice session and it goes about as well as you could expect (which is not so).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with chapter 2! Hope you like it.

Pidge's dorm room was drab and lonely. She'd been so focused on actually getting there, she hadn't really thought about trivial things like how to decorate her room. Her room at home was full of pictures of her family and posters of her favourite ice hockey players and tiny robots she had built. But what she really missed was her dog, Rover, sneaking into her room at night and trying to snuggle under the covers.  
She woke grasping for a dog that wasn't there. Blearily, she rolled over to glance at the clock. 7am. She knew from Matt that Shiro was an early riser. The sheet with the new team members’ names would probably be up by the time she got there.  
*  
Pidge arrived at the noticeboard just in time to see Allura pinning up the sheet. Her heart skipped with nerves. Lance, Hunk, and a few of the hopefuls crowded around the noticeboard, craning their necks to see. Pidge joined the little crowd.  
"Just a tick, everyone," said Allura, jamming the pins into place. She pulled back. "There."  
Lance barged to the front and examined the sheet, obliviously blocking everyone else. He ran his finger down the list, then jabbed it. "Keith!" he screeched. "Keith is my left winger?!"  
A couple of kids sighed and slunk away.  
Lance was still reading. "And…someone called Pidge Gunderson is centre. Who the heck is Pidge Gunderson?" he demanded.  
Pidge gasped.  
"We talked about this? How can you not remember!" Hunk exclaimed.  
"That meeting was just so long and boring," said Lance, rolling his eyes.  
Pidge stepped forward. "I'm Pidge Gunderson," she said, determination shining in her eyes.  
Lance turned to look at her. "Oh! Welcome to the team, little dude. Fist bump!" He held out his fist. Pidge bumped her fist against his, then fist bumped Hunk for good measure.  
Lance raised a perfect eyebrow. "So I guess we'll be seeing you at practise tonight. Seeya!" He and Hunk walked off down the corridor.  
*  
Pidge spent the rest of the day watching the clock. It wasn't like she needed to pay much attention to her classes anyway. She'd been building computers since she was four years and she was several years ahead in her old school. She knew most of this stuff. Just as well really, because she didn't hear a word of it.  
She was out the door as soon as the bell rang and made her way straight to the rink. She was deliberately early, so the changing rooms were empty. Pidge creased up her nose as she set down her bag on a bench. Sweat, old shoes and Lynx body spray. Lovely.  
She changed quickly, heart thumping, and hurried out onto the rink. Keith was already on the ice, hitting pucks with Shiro. How could he have gotten here before her? Had he even turned up to class? Pidge rolled her eyes and made her way to the barrier. This guy was seriously dedicated. And he obviously knew Shiro. She wondered if he knew her brother too. Could he know something about his disappearance too?  
"Hey Pidge!" said Lance, arriving behind her. "How's it going?"  
Pidge shrugged. "It's alright, I guess." She turned back to Shiro. "Those too seem to know each other pretty well," she said. "What's their deal?"  
Lance shrugged. "I mean, they've known each other for a while," he said. "Before the whole…" He hesitated, then glanced at Pidge. His eyes flicked back to the rink.  
"Before what?" Pidge prompted. Lance didn't seem like the type to hold back gossip like that.  
Lance folded his arms. "You probably saw it on the news. The whole disappearing act thing with Shiro and the others."  
Pidge's eyes widened. "Yeah! What do you know about it?"  
Lance raised an eyebrow at her. “Not much, I didn't know them that well then. Shiro was like, my hero, but when he came back-"  
"Hey, Lance!"  
They turned. Hunk was hurrying out of the changing room.  
"How come you're so late, dude?" said Lance, arms folded. "I thought I was supposed to be the late one."  
"Yeah, sorry," said Hunk, sliding into a seat and checking his shoelaces. "I was just- I was hungry and I had to eat something before practise, you know. What-what were you guys talking about anyway? Hey, Pidge," he added.  
"Shiro," said Pidge.  
"Ohh, Shiro's great. He's like…the dad friend of Voltron," said Hunk happily.  
"Did you know him before he went missing?"  
"Woah, Pidge!" said Lance. "What’s your interest in this anyway?"  
Before Pidge could think of a reply, Coran and Allura bustled over. Coran clapped his hands together.  
"Ah, looks like the team's all here!" he announced to no one in particular. "Welcome to Team Voltron! Time for our first training session!" And with that he glided out onto the rink.  
"Wait!" said Hunk. "I baked cupcakes! I left them in the changing room, let me just-"  
"We can have them after practise, Hunk," called Shiro from the ice.  
Hunk pouted as he, Lance and Pidge joined the rest of the team.

*  
That first practice was awful.  
Coran had to blow his whistle so often his face matched his moustache. Keith and Lance collided multiple times and ended up sliding across the rink on their backs like turtles. Hunk kept talking about how if he could have just brought out his cupcakes he would definitely be better at keeping goal - not that he needed to, because even Pidge couldn't seem to get the puck anywhere near it. Too many distractions. And then Shiro announced he had a headache and had to go sit down.  
Finally, Allura marched to the edge of the barrier. "You are supposed to be a team!" she snapped. "How can we possibly hope to defeat Galra if you can't even work together?"  
Pidge spun on the ice to face her. "Galra?"  
"Only our rival team," said Lance from the floor. He tried to sit up, slipped, and landed on top of Keith again. "They beat us pretty much every year." Keith pushed him off and they slid across the ice in opposite directions.  
"We are going to beat them this time, " said Shiro firmly. He was sitting on the bench, nursing his head.  
"You said that last year," Hunk complained. "And look what happened."  
They all looked at him. Red rose in his cheeks. "Oops, sorry, sore subject," he gabbled.  
"We are going to beat Galra this year," Allura insisted, nodding at Shiro. "You just need to bond as a team."  
Pidge gazed around at her teammates. At Lance and Keith struggling to pull themselves to their feet, at Hunk chewing on something he found in his pocket, at Shiro, looking tired and ill, and down at herself, a fraud and a liar. She couldn't imagine them ever working together smoothly.  
*  
The mood was bleak in the changing rooms after practice. The only consolation was Hunk's cupcakes, each of which was carefully decorated with a different coloured lion. Pidge's lion was green. She smiled at it. She'd always liked the colour green. She bit into the cake. It tasted pretty good too.  
"You're a good cook, Hunk," she said.  
"Why, thank you," said Hunk, yanking off his boots.  
Lance took off his jersey. "You not getting changed, Pidge?" he said with his mouth full. Blue icing flecked the corners of his mouth.  
Pidge hesitated. "Uh," she said. It would look pretty weird if she just sat here and watched the others get changed. She sighed and pulled off her own jersey. "I was just savouring my cake."  
Lance shrugged and undid his shoulder and elbow pads with a rip of Velcro. Then he pulled off his shirt, revealing his bare chest. Pidge went pink and looked away. It wasn't that she had a crush on Lance - the very idea was preposterous. She had just suddenly been reminded that she was definitely intruding on an all-male area and if she didn't get out soon there would be more than one bare chest around here. And she definitely did not was to see that. Quickly, she ripped off her pads, threw on a jumper, and hoofed it out of the changing room. She'd get changed properly in her room.  
She had just enough time to hear Lance say, "Huh, what's his problem?" before the door swung shut.  
Pidge closed her eyes. She definitely could have handled that better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will the team ever learn to work as...well a team? Find out in the next chapter :)  
> [My Tumblr](http://daydreamsofdragons.tumblr.com/)


	3. In which they go on a Team Bonding Adventure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance decides to take the team out for a midnight bonding exercise but it doesn't go quite as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This nice fluffy ice hockey au takes kind of a darker turn in this chapter. Whoops.

It was the middle of the night. The campus was silent. Pidge stared up at the ceiling, wide awake. She had already been at Castle Academy for several days, and what had she learned about Matt and her father's whereabouts? Nothing. All she knew, was that, since Shiro returned from…wherever the quiznak he'd been…he'd been different. Which wasn't helpful at all. Pidge sighed. If this had all been a waste of time… She clenched her fists. No. Maybe she should spend tomorrow tailing Shiro, see if he was up to anything strange. For all she knew, he could have been the one to make her family disappear.  
The very idea made her feel sick. Matt and Shiro had been close. The police had questioned him extensively, obviously, after he had mysteriously reappeared a few months ago. But apparently, Shiro couldn't remember a thing about the past year, and, without evidence, they'd been forced to let it go.  
But was Shiro telling the truth? Maybe she should build a lie detector, ask him a few questions…  
Someone was muttering in the hallway.  
Pidge sat up. It was coming from right outside her door. Slowly, she reached for the taser by her bed. She'd built it herself. She frowned, listening. It sounded like someone was complaining.  
"I'm just saying this, here, right now, on the record, th-this is a bad idea."  
Pidge rolled her eyes and let go of the taser. Hunk. And Lance, no doubt. What the quiznak were they doing outside her room after lights out?  
"Ssh, you know what Allura said, we have to bond as a team." And there was Lance.  
Pidge slipped out of bed, put on her binder, and tiptoed towards the door. She flung it open.  
Hunk yelped and leaped backwards into Lance, who toppled onto the floor for probably the hundredth time that day.  
"What the cheese, Pidge?" said Lance, pushing Hunk off him. He stood up and dusted himself off. Hunk stayed on the ground, still recovering from the shock.  
"What are you doing outside my room at 1am?" said Pidge.  
"Well, we were gonna invite you to come out with us," said Lance, arms folded.  
"At 1am," Pidge repeated.  
"Yeah!" said Lance, like it was the most normal thing in the world. "I thought we could hit the town, have some fun. Team bonding!"  
Hunk nodded meekly. "What he said."  
Pidge stared at them for a few seconds. Then she shrugged. "It's not like I was asleep."  
Lance fist pumped. "Yes! I told you this was a good idea."  
Hunk shook his head in defeat.  
"Now, let's find Keith," said Lance.  
Pidge closed her door behind her. "You really want to invite Keith after arguing with him all day?" she said.  
The tips of Lance's ears turned pink. "Well, he is on Team Voltron isn't he? We can't not invite him. Anyway, this is supposed to be a team bonding exercise!"  
"Uh huh," said Pidge as they wandered down the corridor. "Funny kind of rivalry you've got there."  
Lance shook his head. "Whatever! What was your deal in the changing rooms today? You ran out like a- a-" He hesitated, trying to come up with a good simile.  
"Did you feel sick?" Hunk supplied helpfully. "I get that. A lot."  
Lance rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Everyone knows about your gastrointestinal issues, Hunk."  
"Yeah, I didn't feel well," said Pidge quickly. Man, she really had to do something about the changing room issue. She couldn't just pretend to be ill every time.  
"It wasn't my cakes was it?" asked Hunk, suddenly concerned. "I'd hate to have made you sick."  
Pidge laughed. "Don't worry, it definitely wasn't your cake."  
Hunk let out a sigh of relief. "Phew, that's-"  
"Ssh!" Lance hissed, holding up his hand. "I think there's someone coming!"  
They froze. Lance pushed them round the corner, then peered out.  
"I think they turned off," he said at last.  
They all breathed out.  
"Okay, that was close, guys," Hunk whispered. "Maybe we should go back to our rooms."  
"Don't be such a wimp, Hunk," Lance retorted. "Anyway, here's Keith's room." He rapped on the door.  
There was a thump from inside and the door flew open to reveal Keith, fully dressed, hockey stick in hand. He stared at them in confusion. "What?"  
"Do you...sleep in your clothes?" Lance asked.  
"Did you just run into the wall?" Hunk added  
Keith lowered the hockey stick. "What?" he said again.  
"Lance wants us to do some team bonding," said Pidge. "You wanna come?"  
Keith blinked. "You...want me to come?"  
They exchanged glances.  
Lance cleared his throat. "Well, yeah."  
A smile formed on Keith's face, the first Pidge had seen on him. "Okay," said Keith. "Where are we going?"  
"We gotta get Shiro first," said Lance. "Then we see where the night takes us." He grinned.  
Keith shut his bedroom door and followed them down the corridor.  
Shiro's dorm room was in the seniors' section - he was the oldest of any of them.  
"Interesting fact," said Lance. "Shiro should have graduated last year, but he had to retake because of the whole going missing thing."  
"Lucky us," said Hunk.  
"Unlucky Shiro," muttered Keith.  
Slowly, Lance pushed open the door to the seniors' common room. It creaked in a slow whine.  
"Lance!" said Pidge, hands over her ears. "You'll wake the whole building!"  
"I’m being as quiet as I can, Pidge!" Lance retorted.  
Pidge pushed him aside and squeezed through the gap. "Come on, guys, you can fit without opening it anymore."  
One by one, they squeezed through the door. Except Hunk.  
"Sorry, guys," he said. "But I am not going to fit through there." And with that he pushed open the door. The hinges shrieked.  
"Hunk!"  
He had the decency to look embarrassed.  
Suddenly, Keith perked up. His eyes shot around the room wildly. "What was that?"  
Lance opened his mouth to say something sarcastic, but Pidge shushed him.  
"Sounded like a door opening," she said, turning towards the noise. She squinted. Through the door at the other end of the common room - the one leading to the dorms - she could see someone emerging from their room.  
"Hide!" she hissed. They all dived behind a sofa.  
The door opened, and for a moment a figure was silhouetted in the doorway against the light of the moon.  
"It's Shiro!" whispered Lance.  
Pidge jammed her hand over his mouth. They watched as Shiro made his way to the exit. The way he moved was odd, trance like.  
"He's sleepwalking," muttered Hunk.  
Shiro opened the door without a sound and wandered out.  
"Let's follow him!" Lance enthused, pushing Pidge’s hand away. He stood up.  
Pidge followed suit. "Yes, let's," she said grimly.  
*  
They followed Shiro outside, through the courtyard, to the trees on the edge of the campus. Shiro was completely oblivious.  
"Where the heck is he going?" said Lance.  
Hunk shrugged.  
Shiro finally came to a stop at the fence that stood between them and the outside world. The rest of the team watched from behind a tree as he stopped, turned around, and opened his eyes. He frowned, looked down at himself, and sighed. Like he'd done this before.  
He started back towards the academy, then hesitated. "Who's there?" he said.  
The team looked at each other. Slowly, meekly, they emerged from behind the tree.  
Shiro glared at them. "What are you doing out here?"  
Lance folded his arms. "I might ask you the same question."  
"Yeah," said Keith.  
Shiro looked at them. Subconsciously, he touched his prosthetic arm. "This...” He hesitated, trying to think of an excuse. Then he sighed. “This is where I used to meet my dealer," he said at last.  
"Drug dealer?" said Pidge. A quick glance at the rest of the group told her that the others had known, or at least suspected.  
Shiro nodded. "I’m clean now, have been for months. But I still sleepwalk here sometimes."  
Pidge frowned. "And you didn’t mention this to the police after you mysteriously reappeared?"  
Shiro looked taken aback. "I didn’t think it was relevant. And I couldn’t risk being kicked off the team."  
And suddenly Pidge was furious. She stomped up to him and pointed her finger into his chest accusingly. "How could you know it wasn’t relevant? You don’t remember anything! You withheld information! Information that could gave helped find Matt and-"  
Lance yanked her back. "Seriously, Pidge, why are you so obsessed with this? You're always bringing it up."  
They all stared at her. Pidge swallowed. No getting out of this one. She clenched her fists. "Matt is my brother, okay? It’s my brother and father that are missing."  
Lance gaped. "Matt was your brother?"  
Shiro was frowning.  
Pidge nodded. "I came here to find him. And I’m not leaving until I do!"  
Shiro put his hand on her shoulder. "We all want to find them, Pidge."  
"Yeah, we're gonna help, right guys?" said Lance.  
Hunk and Keith look at each other and nodded.  
"You don’t have to do this alone," said Keith.  
Pidge sniffed and rubbed her eyes. She managed a smile. "Thanks, guys."  
Maybe they could learn to work together after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you it got more intense  
> [My Tumblr](http://daydreamsofdragons.tumblr.com/)


	4. In which Pidge is a Hacker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finds out about their first match and Pidge questions Shiro about his past.

They gave up on the 'hitting the town' idea. They'd all done enough team bonding for the night.  
Pidge walked with Shiro, a little way behind the others.  
"So, was Matt using too?" she asked quietly. Her heart as heavy. She'd spent her whole life looking up to her brother, and now his perfect image was crashing down around her ears.  
Shiro sighed. "Honestly, I don’t know. My memory...I can barely remember anything from two years ago until the day I escaped. It’s like a great big hole in my head."  
"I’m sorry, Shiro," said Pidge.  
"I’m sorry too. But we are going to find them, Katie. I promise."  
Her breath caught in her throat. Katie?  
Shiro gave her a small smile. "I came to your house once. I remember that."  
Pidge looked up at him. And suddenly she was throwing her arms around his waist, sobbing.  
Shiro hugged her back. "We're going to find them," he said. "We are."  
It wasn’t until she was back in her dorm that she truly registered what Shiro had said.  
He’d escaped.  
But from where?  
*

Their next practise session was a little more successful. At least, Keith and Lance didn't collide quite so many times, and Pidge actually managed to score a couple of goals. At the end of the session, Coran gathered them to the benches. Allura stood next to him, holding her ever present clipboard to her chest.  
"I saw a lot of solid individual performances today," said Coran. "Don't you think, Allura?"  
Allura nodded. "It was certainly an improvement. However, you are still struggling to work as a team. You're going to have to do better than that if you want to defeat Galra in the tournament."  
"Speaking of tournaments," said Coran, "I have some good news and bad news. The good news is, I've signed you up for this year's tournament. The bad news is, Galra are also in the tournament. But wait, good news again. Your first match will be over in a week's time!"  
Shiro leaned forward. "Our first match is in a week?"  
"That's right!" said Coran. "So get bonding!"  
"Who will we be playing against?" asked Keith.  
Hunk closed his eyes and crossed his fingers. "Please don't say Galra, please don’t' say Galra-"  
Allura checked her clipboard. "Your first opponents will be the Arusians."  
"Oh, thank God," said Hunk.  
"That's alright," said Lance. "The Arusians are all tiny. We can beat them, easy."  
"Do not underestimate them, Lance," Allura warned.  
"Allura is right," said Shiro. "We can't underestimate any of our opponents. We're going to train for this tournament as hard as we would were we about to face Galra. I want us in here practising every day until the match."  
The team groaned.  
"You're no fun, Shiro," muttered Lance.  
They headed back to the changing rooms. Pidge sat on the bench next to her bag and began unlacing her skates slowly. She kept her eyes down as the others got changed around her.  
"You alright, Pidge?" said Shiro.  
Pidge was glad he'd agreed to keep her secret identity...well, secret. Secrets seemed to be something Shiro was annoyingly good at. She was itching to pester him with questions, but right now really didn't seem like a good time. She nodded. "Can I talk to you later?" she said.  
"Of course," said Shiro. "I'll wait for you outside." He was already back in normal clothes. Boy, he got changed fast. He grabbed his bag and headed out of the changing rooms.  
Lance jabbed Pidge in the ribs. "Need a heart to heart?" he said mischievously. He was wrapped in just a towel, having hit the showers as soon as practise was over.  
Pidge folded her arms and looked away. "That's none of your business, Lance," she said.  
Lance pouted and pulled on his shirt. "I thought we were bros, Pidge," he said in a fake hurt voice.  
Pidge chewed her lip. Up until now, she'd been pretty pleased with how she had managed to fool practically everyone on campus. Shiro was the only one to see through her. But she did want to be bros with Lance and the others. She hated feeling like a fraud. She opened her mouth, one half of her screaming to reveal everything, then closed it again.  
"What's wrong?" said Hunk.  
"You know I was joking, right?" said Lance, getting dressed. He looked around the room. "He knows I was joking, right?"  
Keith picked up his bag. "He doesn't have to tell us everything, Lance. Everyone has stuff they want to hide."  
Pidge pulled off her shoulder pads. "It's just…I really want to find my brother," she said.  
"You will," said Hunk encouragingly. "But until then… I just want you to know…I realised, last night, when we were all sneaking around. We're brothers too, man. All of us." And with that he pulled Keith, Lance and Pidge together into a bear hug. "Brothers, all the way."  
Keith yelped and squirmed out of his grasp. "I think the cold messed with your head," he said, but Pidge could tell he was trying to hide a smile. "See you later." He headed out the changing room.  
Lance ducked his head under Hunk's arm. "You know I feel the same, dude," he said, grabbing his own bag. "Ready?"  
"Uh huh," said Hunk, leaping up. "See you next practise, Pidge!"  
She watched them go, feeling happy and sad all at once.  
*  
Finally, having gotten changed in peace, Pidge emerged from the changing room. Shiro was leaning against the wall. He straightened up.  
"Hey, Pidge. What did you want to talk to me about?" he said.  
"I wanted to ask you about some of the stuff you said last night," said Pidge. "I thought you probably wouldn't want it to become a group discussion so…yeah."  
"Thank you, Pidge," said Shiro gravely. "I don't remember many details, but I'll tell you everything I remember. I want to get Matt back just as much as you do. What do you want to know?"  
Pidge took a deep breath. Might as well get straight into it. "Who was your dealer?"  
Shiro raised an eyebrow.  
Pidge waved her hands. "I don't want any," she said quickly. "I know you don't remember if Matt was involved but I thought maybe, if he was, you might have had the same dealer. And if I could track them down, I might have a new lead. They might even have been the last to see him before he disappeared."  
Shiro nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe…" he said. He creased up his brow in thought. "But…I'm sorry, Pidge. I don't remember who it was. It was always at night and I can't picture his face."  
"His face? So, not a girl." Pidge pulled out her phone and typed it into her notes.  
Shiro cracked a smile. "Nice catch. That wouldn't even have occurred to me."  
Of course it wouldn't, you're a guy, Pidge thought to herself. But she wouldn't say that out loud.  
Aloud, she said, "I've noticed a bunch of security cameras around campus, and obviously everyone has phones and webcams. I should be able to do some hacking, see if any of your meetings got caught on camera." She typed that into her notes too, under the To Do list.  
Shiro frowned. "I don't know how I feel about that. If the school finds out about-"  
"I won't get caught," said Pidge.  
Shiro sighed.  
"There was something else," she said. "Last night, you said you escaped. Where did you escape from? Was someone holding you captive? Who?"  
Shiro held up his hands. "What are you talking about?"  
Pidge closed her eyes, remembering. "I can barely remember anything from two years ago until the day I escaped," she quoted. "That's what you said."  
Shiro blinked. "I guess I did."  
"Sooo," said Pidge, leaning forward. "Do you remember? Where you were? Anything?"  
Shiro pressed his lips together. "I don't know…I get flashes. I think I was tied down. I might have been underground? But-" He shook his head. "I don't know how much of that was real."  
"Was Matt there? Or my father?" Pidge pressed desperately.  
"Maybe Matt? I can't say for sure. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, Pidge."  
Pidge slumped. "That's okay. Whatever they did to you…it was bad. PTSD can do strange things to your mind."  
Shiro patted her shoulder. "If I remember something, I'll let you know," he said.  
"Thanks."  
He walked away. Sighing, Pidge closed her note taking app. She stared at her phone background. It was of her and Matt, the day he left for Castle Academy. Eyes hard with determination, she locked her phone and shoved it in her pocket. Time to do what she did best.  
Hack. Everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> [My Tumblr](http://daydreamsofdragons.tumblr.com/)


	5. In which Voltron Bonds Together (literally)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coran has a great idea for a team bonding exercise (if he does say so himself).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was particularly fun

She was on her laptop until late into the night. It was easy to hack the security cameras on campus. She now had access to live footage of the car park, reception, the lifts, and various other rooms. Most importantly though, she could see through the camera directed at the school gates. And there, on the edge of the screen, was the group of trees, and a view of the street on the other side of the fence. Pidge grinned. Now for the archived footage.  
She yawned. Her eyes were starting to close. It would take a while for her to sift through all of that. She would have to start sometime around two years ago and work her way forwards. She rubbed her eyes. Maybe she should install some facial recognition software, have it search for Shiro. Another yawn forced its way out of her throat. But not tonight. Reluctantly, she closed her laptop. The blue light blinked off.  
*  
The next week was a blur of training and late nights. Every evening, Pidge hurried to practise in increasingly intense sessions. Every night, she watched the facial recognition software run through the footage as she absentmindedly did her homework. And every morning she would stumble into class, dark eyed and half asleep. If she kept this up, her straight A record would be tarnished. But who cared about grades when you family's lives were in danger?  
And then, two days before the tournament, Coran had had enough.  
"Look at yourselves!" he said. "You're like a herd of sloths out there! Where's your energy?"  
Lance shot Shiro a side glare as he glided slowly over the ice. "Maybe if someone hadn't been working us so hard, we might be a bit less...oh, I don't know...exhausted!" He skidded to a halt.  
"We're all tired, Lance," said Shiro. "But you know how hard we need to work to be ready for the match."  
"Yeah, yeah, I know," said Lance. "But I've been working my butt off on my technique already and I can't take much more."  
They all nodded. Even Keith, Mr Seriously Dedicated, was nodding his head.  
Shiro hesitated. "Maybe we could all use a little break," he agreed. "Why don't we head to the cafeteria and get something to eat?"  
Hunk's rumbling stomach echoed through the stadium. He gave it a pat. "Sorry, guys."  
They all trudged off the ice. Allura cane marching out of the office, irritation etched on her face.  
"What do you think you are doing?" she demanded. "You still have training to do!"  
"Everyone's worked really hard this week, so I figured we could use a break," said Shiro.  
Allura slammed her hands against a seat. "You think Galra will give you a break when you face them?" she snapped.  
Instinctively, Team Voltron took a step back. Allura was terrifying when she was angry. And she was way stronger than she looked. No one wanted to get in her way.  
"Actually, I think it's rather a good idea," said Coran, stepping up from behind them.  
Allura narrowed her eyes. "You do?"  
Coran clapped his hands together. "Of course! Nothing like a snack to bond a team!" He shot Allura a crafty grin.  
A slow smile formed on Allura's face. "Of course, you are right, Coran. Why don't we all go to the cafeteria for something to eat."  
Lance and Hunk high fived. But Pidge followed the team out uneasily. Allura and Coran were planning something.  
In the cafeteria, the dinner rush was just dying down. The low mumble of chatter was punctuated by the occasional clank of cutlery. Pidge grabbed a peanut butter cookie. After some thought, she headed to the condiments bar and picked up a jar of peanut butter. The cookies in the cafeteria were never peanut buttery enough. She followed the team to an empty table and sat down next to Keith. She looked across at Allura and Coran, sitting opposite. Neither of them had picked up any food. Cautiously, Pidge spread more peanut butter onto her cookie and raised it to her mouth.  
"I don't know about you guys, but I am starving!" said Hunk, reaching for his fork.  
Suddenly, Coran flicked his wrist, and Pidge felt her left hand pulled towards the middle of the table. She tried to yank it back, only to discover that it had been cuffed to the rest of the player’s hands in a bundle by what looked like a metallic piece of rope. Coran had hold of both ends, which he tied neatly into a knot. The team sprawled across the table.  
"Wait, what?" cried Lance. He was squished in the middle of it all.  
"Uh, Coran, what are you doing?" said Shiro.  
"This is a classic!" said Coran jovially. "You get to feed each other!"  
Pidge glared. Allura was hiding a smile. Some of the other diners had noticed the kerfuffle and were peering around at them.  
"You can't do this!" snapped Keith.  
"Yes," said Allura smugly, "we can."  
"Come on, everyone!" said Coran.  
Pidge huffed. She just wanted to eat her cookie in peace. She reached for it with her free hand, only to be yanked across the table by Lance trying to feed Hunk his chocolate cake. She bumped into her peanut butter. It tipped and skidded along the table, spraying everyone with peanut butter.  
"Pidge! You got peanut butter in my cereal!" Keith complained.  
"Oh yeah? Well my elbow got dunked in your milk! Guess how I feel!" she snapped back.  
"Stop wiping chocolate on my face, Lance!" said Hunk.  
"I don't exactly have much coordination right now!"  
Allura's eye twitched. "I thought this was supposed to be a bonding exercise, Coran. Not a food fight."  
Lance sat straight up, pulling everyone up with him. "Wait, did you say food fight?" His eyes drifted to Keith, who was staring straight into his cereal as if debating whether or not to just give up and shove his face in it. Slyly, Lance raised Hunk's cake (and Hunk's hand), and flung the chocolatey mess at Keith. It hit him in the mullet, bounced, and caught Pidge in the face.  
"Hey!" said Pidge.  
She and Keith exchanged glanced. Pidge dunked her spoon into her peanut butter and took aim.  
"Let him have it, Pidge," said Keith.  
She fired.  
"Oh, it's on," said Hunk.  
And suddenly food was flying everywhere. The entire cafeteria was in an uproar. Food splattered the walls. Pidge laughed as Allura caught a tomato in the face, spun around, and sent Keith's bowl of cereal flying at her attacker with a spinning kick.  
The doors to the kitchen banged open.  
"What on Earth is going on out here!" roared the head cook.  
The cafeteria fell silent.  
"Time to go," said Coran in his stage whisper.  
The team stood up as one. Their chairs clattered to the floor as they rushed for the exit.  
"You come back here!" yelled the head cook, shaking his fist.  
Shiro flung open the door and they tore away down the corridor. With their wrists still attached, they moved like some kind of giant clumsy spider. They stumbled out of the building.  
Finally free, they collapsed in the courtyard, laughing.  
"Didya see his face?" Lance snorted. "Dude, that was hilarious."  
"I've never been in a food fight before," said Keith, looking rather pleased with himself.  
"It's like a school rite of passage, man," Hunk chortled.  
"I do not envy whoever has to clean that up," said Pidge.  
Even Shiro cracked a smile.  
Allura got to her feet and dusted herself off. "You're finally working as a team!" she said triumphantly. "Coran, why don't you untie them now? I think they’re earned it."  
Pidge looked down at her hand. She'd almost forgotten about the rope.  
Coran found the knotted ends of the rope and held them up critically. "Ah," he said. "It might be a little bit tangled."  
"Is there a problem?" asked Shiro.  
Coran twiddled his moustache. "Not at all, not at all. But I hope you don't have any plans tonight. Because this could take some time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](http://daydreamsofdragons.tumblr.com/)


	6. In which Shiro has a Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Voltron play their first match.

It was the day of the tournament. Pidge's recognition software had almost cycled through the entire window of useful footage, and she had only had two hits - one of Shiro walking out the gate at the end of term, and one of him returning when the new term began. She was starting to wonder if she was even searching through the right camera. What if Shiro was there and the software just couldn't pick up his face because of the shadows of the trees? She had it running 24/7. It would take weeks to trawl through it all manually.  
But she couldn't think about that now. She had to focus on the match, for the rest of the team. She gazed around the changing room. Lance was demonstrating just how easy it would be to knock over and Arusian player by trying (and failing) to push over Hunk, while Keith watched with his arms folded. Shiro had his eyes shut as he tried to focus. Pidge checked her equipment again. They'd trained so hard. Everything was going to be fine.  
Coran and Allura entered the changing room. Coran clapped his hands together, ready to give his pep talk.  
"Alright, everyone," he said. "You might think you have an easy match today, and perhaps you are right!"  
The team looked at each other.  
Coran pulled at his moustache. "Then again, maybe you're not! Good luck everyone!"  
They stared at him.  
"Come on, chop, chop, off you go!" said Coran.  
They stood up and filed out of the changing room.  
"Remember to work as a team!" Allura called after them. "Go Lions!"  
And then they were on the rink. The stadium was full. There were several teams competing today. Pidge spotted the Galra team in the stands. Someone was waving a banner with a bat on it - the Galra mascot.  
Pidge turned back to the rink and prepared herself for the faceoff. She looked at the centre from the opposing team, standing opposite her. Lance had been right. The Arusian team was short. But so was Pidge.  
The referee dropped the puck and the game began. Pidge quickly took possession and passed it back to Lance. Keith skated forwards as Lance headed for the goal.  
Soon the game was in full swing. It was going in Team Voltron's favour, and by the end of the first period, they were elated. They skated to the edge of the rink.  
"Told you it would be easy," said Lance. "Did you see how I checked their left winger?" He cackled.  
"Yeah, you almost fell over," said Keith.  
"Whatever, Keith."  
"Listen, everyone," Shiro cut across their bickering. "Now is not the time to lose focus. We've still got two thirds of the match to go. Anything could happen."  
The next period began. And it was still going well. The Arusians weren't bad, but they weren't the strongest team Pidge had ever played. She had found it, to her quiet satisfaction, surprisingly easy to transition from woman's to men's hockey.  
Shiro had the puck and was skating towards the goal. His path was clear. In her head, Pidge was already celebrating an easy goal. He was going to take the shot.  
Suddenly, he froze. He skidded to a halt and the puck slid away. Pidge's eyes widened. She skated towards him. Keith shot past her. Shiro was staring out into the stadium, paralysed.  
Then the Arusian defenseman appeared as if from nowhere. He checked Shiro and sent him sprawling across the ice. His head connected with a sickening thud.  
"Shiro!" Keith yelled, his voice muffled by his mouth guard, as the defensemen stole the puck and skated towards their goal.  
The Arusian team scored.  
Pidge squinted up at where Shiro had been staring. A member of Galra glared through the barrier at Shiro, a grim expression on his face. He glanced up, and Pidge quickly looked away. She was in shock. The game had been going so well, and now their captain was curled up, motionless, on the ice. The medics headed out to tend to him as the whistle blew to signal the interval.  
The team convened at the edge of the rink.  
"What the heck happened there?" said Lance. He craned his neck to watch Shiro with the medics. He was sitting up now, clutching his head.  
"He just stopped," said Keith. He was shaking. "Why did he stop?"  
"I hope he's okay," said Hunk, hunching over.  
Pidge watched as the medics helped Shiro up. He stood up straight and waved them away.  
"He's coming over," she said.  
They all stood to attention.  
"Shiro! Are you alright?" asked Allura from the side.  
Shiro nodded. "I can keep playing." But his face was pale, and his eyes were haunted.  
"What happened out there?" Keith demanded.  
Shiro shrugged. " I got checked. This is a contact sport. It happens."  
"Yes but-"  
"The next period is about to start!" Coran interrupted. "Play now, chat later!"  
Reluctantly, they skated into position.  
Shiro's injury had spooked them and they were on edge for the rest of the game. Twice Lance and Keith crashed into each other, Hunk let goals in, Shiro seemed barely focussed on reality, and Pidge kept getting distracted by the Galra player at the barrier, watching, glaring.  
They won, but just barely.  
*  
The match was over. They sat in the changing room, their victory bittersweet.  
"You won, congratulations," said Allura, doing her best to be cheerful.  
"Who are we kidding?" said Lance gloomily, his usual arrogance deflated. "We'll never beat the Galra if we perform like that."  
"It was just- it was just bad luck," said Hunk.  
"It was more than bad luck," said Keith darkly. "If Shiro hadn't gone and lost it out there, we-"  
"There's no point handing out blame like that," Hunk interrupted. "We can't just sit around bickering."  
Shiro, who had been sitting on the bench silently, stood up. "I'm sorry about what happened," he said quietly. "But Hunk is right. We can't focus on what went wrong. I'm going to figure out how to make it right." And with that, he strode out of the changing room.  
Keith started after him, but Allura shook her head. "Let him. He needs to clear his head."  
They finished getting ready in silence.  
*  
Pidge gazed around the stadium as they headed out, her eyes searching the crowd. Then she spotted him, a little way away from the rest of his team. She tapped Keith on the shoulder and pointed.  
"Do you know who that is?" she asked.  
Keith frowned. "Who?"  
"The Galra player over there. I think that's who Shiro was staring at when he…checked out."  
"Wait, seriously?" Keith peered at him. "That's Sendak," he said at last. "He's the right winger for Galra."  
"I wonder what it was about him that caused Shiro to freak out like that," Pidge wondered aloud.  
"No idea," said Keith. "It could have been a coincidence. Shiro's been on edge ever since he came back. Anything could have set him off."  
"Maybe…" said Pidge doubtfully. She held up her phone and discreetly snapped a quick picture. For future reference.  
*  
Back in her dorm room, Pidge sat down on her bed and pulled out her laptop. She opened it up. The facial recognition app had finally run its course. She had one notification. She chewed her lip. It was probably just another 'Shiro goes home for the weekend' deal. There was no point getting her hopes up. Still, she opened it.  
And there he was. Shiro, standing by the fence at the exact spot he had sleepwalked to a few nights ago. His face was half shrouded in shadow, with the only light shining from a particularly bright moon. He'd probably been caught on camera there several times, but the shadows had prevented her software from recognising him until now.  
There was another figure too, approaching down the street on the other side of the fence. He was completely in shadow. Pidge watched as he walked past Shiro without glancing at him, turned the corner, and disappeared from the camera. A couple of seconds later, Shiro was walking away too.  
Pidge blinked. No, that couldn't be it! She rewound the footage and watched again as Shiro appeared at the fence from the very edge of the camera. Then the figure, walking purposefully past. She jabbed pause and stared at the jittering image. Gritting her teeth, she slowed the clip right down until she was watching it frame by frame.  
Click. Click. Click. There!  
It was only there for two frames. Pidge flicked back and forth. The figure's hand flitted towards Shiro through the fence, outstretched. Shiro's hand reaching through, then jumping back. An exchange. Pidge grinned. She had found it.  
But who was this guy? She zoomed in following his face. But it was just too dark to make it out.  
Time for some editing.  
She took a screenshot and pasted it into her photo editing program. Fiddling with some settings, she managed to lighten the picture. Then she adjusted the contrast. She gasped.  
The picture was grainy, but the man's features were clear enough. She checked her phone for confirmation, but there was no mistaking it.  
Shiro's dealer was Sendak.  
And that wasn't all. Now that the picture wasn't so dark, she could make out more features. Specifically, next to Shiro. What she had assumed to be another shadow had become a blurrily outlined figure. He wasn't facing the camera, but Pidge didn't need him to. She knew that fluffy brown hair anywhere.  
It was Matt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](http://daydreamsofdragons.tumblr.com/)


	7. In which Lance and Keith's Race has an Unexpected Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge tries to convince Shiro to contact someone from his past.

Matt was not the role model Pidge had always thought him to be. She barely slept, tossing and turning all night, thinking. Matt had always wanted to be the best, and he'd been obsessed with getting stronger, faster. But she'd never have thought he would turn to drugs for self enhancement.  
And yet, she could imagine how it might have happened all to easily. Matt was smart. He did loads of extracurriculars. He was in classes years ahead of his age, just like her. He worked so hard, and with all the schoolwork and the pressure and the need to be the best finally got too much. He couldn't do it by himself, so he turned to drugs. The kind that made your brain work faster or focus harder. And then he couldn't stop.  
Pidge stared at the ceiling and cast her mind back to the last time she saw her father. He'd suddenly decided he had to go visit Matt at the academy. He hadn't told her or her mother why. And she hadn’t seen him since.  
Maybe he'd known.  
Pidge groaned. There was so much she didn't know, so many secrets…  
She rolled over and closed her eyes, trying to shut out the images swirling around her head.  
*  
"Shiro! I need to talk to you!"  
It was early next morning, before even breakfast. Shiro was sitting alone on a bench in the courtyard, staring out into space. Pidge ran up to him.   
"Shiro!" she repeated.  
Shiro blinked, startled from his stupor. "Sorry, Pidge, I don’t really feel up to talking right now. I'm working through some things."  
Pidge plonked herself next to him. "I know, and I'm sorry. But this is important. I have some new information. I think i know why you freaked out at the match yesterday."  
Shiro looked up.  
"You saw Sendak, didn't you?" Pidge continued. "I saw him too. He was watching when you got checked."  
"Everyone was watching when I got checked," Shiro muttered darkly.  
"Yes, but it was him you staring at when you froze, wasn't it?"  
Shiro sighed, and nodded. "I looked over and...I guess I had a flashback," he said.  
"And I think I know why," said Pidge. She pulled out her phone. "I found out who your dealer was last night." She brought up the screenshot and showed it to Shiro. "Look familiar?"  
Shiro's eyes widened. "It was Sendak."  
Pidge nodded gravely. "And that’s not all. Matt was there too, in the footage."  
"Oh, Pidge, I’m sorry-" Shiro began, but Pidge shook her head. She'd dwelled on it enough.  
"I think the drugs and Matt's disappearance - and yours - are connected somehow," she said.  
"Maybe we should go to the police," said Shiro.  
Pidge shook her head. "You'd be kicked off the team, maybe the school. It would be a huge scandal. And once whoever has my family knows we're onto them, they might decide to go ahead and destroy the evidence...if you know what I mean.” She stared at the gravel. “If matt and my father are even still alive."  
"Pidge, you can’t think like that," said Shiro.  
Pidge clenched her fists. "I have to consider all of the possibilities. Anyway, what I need to do now is find out more about Sendak. I’m thinking a bug."  
"Bug?"  
"So we can listen to his private conversations, see what he knows and-" She hesitated. "I was hoping you could help me."  
"Of course, anything," said Shiro.  
Pidge bit her lip. She suspected he was about to regret that statement. She took a deep breath. "I need you to organise another meeting with Sendak."  
*  
"No way!" exclaimed Lance. "No way could you beat me in a race, Keith."  
"Wanna bet?" Keith snapped.  
"Heck, yeah! I am lightening on the rink!"  
"Yeah? What about an obstacle course? I’m way better at dodging than you."  
"You are not. You know what they called me at my last school? The Tailor, because of how I thread the needle."  
Keith snorted. "Sure you were."  
Lance got right up in his face. "You wanna go?  
Keith snatched up his skates. "You bet I do," he growled.  
They raced out to the rink. The changing room door swung shut behind them.  
Allura shook her head. "They’re supposed to be the defenders of Castle Academy's honour."  
"So what’s our plan for our next match?" asked Hunk impatiently. "Go in guns blazing?" He shot some imaginary lasers.  
Shiro shook his head. "We need a strategy."  
"So...no guns blazing then?" said Hunk.  
They left the changing room to see Keith on his back on the rink. Lance was on top of him, pinning him against the ice. Neither of them were moving, just...looking at each other.  
Pidge cleared her throat and they leapt to their feet.  
"We were wrestling!" Lance squeaked.  
Keith nodded furiously. "I won the race so-"  
Lance gave him a push. "You did not!"  
And they were back to fighting again.  
Pidge looked over at Shiro as he headed out onto the rink. They hadn’t spoken since she’d asked him to contact Sendak. His inly response had been, "I have to think about it,” before leaving to 'go to class'. Even though she and he both knew class wouldn’t start for another hour. He was avoiding her. She knew what she had asked would be hard for him. She undersold that. But at the same time...her brother and father's lives could be in danger.  
"What's up, Pidge?" asked Hunk. "You look kinda dejected." His eyes widened. "Is it about your brother? Have you found out anything? Because we still want to help, don’t we Lance?"  
Lance untangled himself from Keith. "What? Yeah, of course!'  
Pidge hesitated. "Well, I did find out something."  
Keith. Lance and Hunk all leaned closer to listen.  
Pidge lowered her voice. "One of the Galra players was Shiro's dealer...and Matt was involved somehow." She couldn’t admit the whole truth, not out loud. "I think this guy might be linked to their disappearances but I need to convince Shiro to contact him."  
"You want Shiro to start talking to his dealer again? After everything he’s been through?" said Keith furiously.  
"I know, I know it's bad but Sendak is my only lead," said Pidge with frustration.  
"We have to do something, Keith," said Hunk.  
Keith crossed his arms, but said nothing.  
*  
Shiro entered the cafeteria. He could see Pidge sitting alone at a table, hunched over her phone. He hesitated. He hadn’t spoken to her since she'd asked him. Couldn’t bring himself to. He couldn’t talk to Sendak again, he just couldn’t. Every time a memory came back he was more and more certain that going back to him would cause him to unravel all over again. Sighing, he walked past Pidge, behind her chair so she wouldn’t notice.  
She was watching something on her phone. Shiro quickly cast his eye over it as he went. It was the footage. Of him and Sendak. And Matt.  
And suddenly it was all flooding back. Matt, not angry, but pitying when he found what Shiro was doing. Matt, determined to help. Matt, tagging along to the exchange, asking Sendak to hook him up too. Tapping the tiny camera hidden on his collar.  
Shiro stumbled back. Matt had never been using. He'd been trying to help Shiro, gathering evidence to take Sendak and his crew down, trying to work his way to the leader.  
But he'd got too close.  
"Pidge!" said Shiro.  
Pidge jumped and spun around in her chair. "Shiro?"  
"I'll do it," he said with determination.  
Her eyes widened. "You will?"  
He nodded. "He did the same for me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just had to get that Klance in. Couldn't resist.
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://daydreamsofdragons.tumblr.com/)


	8. In which Team Voltron are Fools

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team goes to Shiro's midnight meet up and everything goes wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter today, but an intense one.

It was 1am. The team was in Pidge's room, getting ready. Pidge pressed a microphone onto Shiro's neck, hidden behind his collar, and handed him an earpiece.  
She patted her headphones. "I'll be listening the whole time, and I can guide you through if you need me to. If you can’t go through with it, for any reason, let me know and we'll abort. Got it?" she said.  
Shiro nodded. His face was calm, impassive, but she could tell it hid a mess of emotions. "I can do it," he said.  
Pidge smiled. "That's great to hear." She handed him a small wad of cash. I've hidden a bug in here. It disintegrates in 24 hours so by the time they find it - if they even do - they won’t have time to trace it or do anything about it."  
"Smart," said Shiro.  
"And if you need me to kick his butt, I’ll be ready,” said Lance, throwing a punch at nothing.  
"Can’t imagine you kicking anyone's butt," muttered Keith.  
"I'll kick your butt!" Lance retorted.  
"Guys, seriously," said Hunk. "Could you give it a rest for five minutes?"  
Lance huffed.  
Pidge ignored them. "Ready to go?" she said to Shiro.  
He nodded.  
He left the room, with Lance and Keith trailing behind him. They would stay close, but hidden, just in case Shiro needed back up. Hunk and Pidge watched from the monitor through the school's hacked cameras.  
"He'll be ok, won’t he?" said Hunk anxiously.  
"Of course he will," said Pidge. "My plan is fool proof."  
They watched as Shiro made his way through the courtyard and towards the fence. He appeared in the corner of the gate camera and waited.  
"I’m here," Shiro muttered into her earphones.  
"I can see you," said Pidge. "Any sign of Sendak?"  
"Not yet- wait, I see him."  
And there he was, appearing on the edge of camera. He walked down the street towards Shiro. Shiro's breathing quickened in her ears. Pidge tensed.  
"Everything will be fine, Shiro," she whispered, for herself almost as much as him.  
Sendak strode towards Shiro. And then walked right past. Hunk gasped.  
"Did he do it?" he said. "That fast?"  
Pidge frowned. "Shiro-" she began.  
And then everything happened very fast.  
Shadowy figures appeared out of the bushes and grabbed Shiro from behind. His yelps pounded her ears. She watched with horror as they pushed a cloth into his mouth.  
"Lance! Keith!" Pidge screeched. "Where the heck are you!"  
“On it!” declared Lance.  
Keith leapt into shot and tackled one of the figures. Lance followed suit, his mouth open like was yelling. Pidge put her head in her hands. "Everyone will hear," she groaned.  
"I have to go help," said Hunk, starting for the door.  
"No! What if they all get caught? I couldn't rescue you all by myself," said Pidge helplessly.  
Hunk squirmed. "We can't just do nothing!" He hesitated. "I'm getting Allura and Coran."  
Pidge turned. "Hunk, no-" But he was already out the door.  
She turned back to the monitor. Lance and Keith were still fighting the figures - she couldn't make out their faces. But another had hoisted Shiro up and was scrambling away unnoticed.  
"Shiro! Can you hear me!" said Pidge.  
He moaned, only half conscious. She swore.  
And then Hunk, Allura and Coran were on the scene. Allura sprinted straight up to Shiro's would be kidnapper and threw him bodily into the fence. He dropped Shiro, who crumpled to the ground, and scrambled over the gate. Lance and Keith's opponents broke away and followed. They disappeared into the night.  
"What the heck?" exclaimed Pidge. "Shiro? Guys? Is everyone okay?"  
"P-Pidge?" muttered Shiro. He rolled over and sat up, clutching his head.  
"Are you okay?" Pidge repeated.  
"I-I think so."  
"You have to get back, someone probably heard all the noise."  
"Got it."  
*  
They all crowded into Pidge's room. Pidge shuffled her chair closer to her desks irritably. Dorm rooms were not meant for seven people.  
"What on Earth is going on?" Allura demanded, hands on hips. She was wearing a purple dressing gown with pink trimming, and her thick white hair, normally coiled a bun, cascaded down her back. She glared at the team. "I'm waiting."  
Pidge scratched her head. "It's kind of a long story."  
"Well, tell it quickly," said Allura. "You're lucky Coran was there. You could have all gotten into big trouble. You could have cost yourselves the tournament!"  
"Some teachers came out after those guys ran away," said Hunk. "I thought we were gonna be expelled but then Coran was all like-" He put a poor New Zealand accent. "'I've got everything under control, gentlemen' and-"  
"That's really not the most important thing that happened tonight, Hunk," said Keith.  
"I know, I know, I was just filling Pidge in," Hunk objected.  
Allura was tapping her foot. "Who were those men? What did they want with Shiro?"  
"Did you see any of their faces?" asked Pidge. "They were in too much shadow on screen."  
Keith shook his head. "They were wearing masks."  
"They were Galra," said Shiro.  
They looked at him.  
"How do you know?" said Keith   
"I remember-" Shiro broke off. "I just know."  
"What were they trying to do, get Shiro out of the game? The little cheats!" said Lance.  
Pidge shook her head. "I think it's more complicated than that. They have to be connected to the drugs-"  
"Drugs?!" Allura interrupted.  
They shushed her.  
"I'll explain later," said Pidge. "Those guys knew about the deal. And they were willing to risk breaking into the school to get Shiro. Which must mean Shiro is dangerous to them."  
"Because he could beat them in the tournament?" suggested Lance.  
Pidge shook her head. "It's bigger than that. I think they're afraid he's remembering."  
"Remembering what?"  
"That they kidnapped him and my family."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun DUN  
> [My Tumblr](http://daydreamsofdragons.tumblr.com/)


	9. In which Allura Works it Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge tries to find out more about what happened the night before.

As it turned out, while Coran had saved them from expulsion, he couldn’t just let them get away with the events of the night with nothing. So the next evening, after class, they all had detention. The entire team sat in the classroom in silence.  
"We should be trying to find out more about Galra right now," Pidge grumbled. "Not wasting our time in here."  
"We should be grateful we weren't kicked out," said Keith.  
"Again." Lance smirked at Keith.  
"Quiet, everyone. This is a punishment!" said Coran from behind the teacher's desk. He had a book, All Yalmors go to Heaven, open on his desk.  
"I cannot believe you did this," said Allura to the team. "We're missing practise right now because of your antics. And with another match coming up!" She didn’t even have detention, having been asleep for most of the drama. She was just here to make them all feel miserable about their failure. In all the commotion, they hadn’t even managed to slip their attackers the bug. All they had achieved was a detention.  
The clock ticked. Slowly, Hunk slid under his chair, snoring.  
"I'm sorry, Pidge," Shiro whispered behind her.  
"It wasn't your fault. We were ambushed," she whispered back.  
"I've been thinking," said Shiro. "The Galra school is too far to walk. They must have got to Castle somehow. And I can remember hearing a car engine last night."  
Pidge's eyes widened. She stared straight ahead. Coran was engrossed in his book, and Allura had long since left.  
"You think it was theirs?" said Pidge.  
"Maybe."  
Pidge smiled to herself. She wondered if it was caught on camera.  
*  
Pidge spent the rest of the night trawling through the school cameras, searching for a car - any car - that might have been used as an escape vehicle by the Galra. Nothing.  
She rested her chin on her hands, glasses reflecting the screen. Maybe Shiro had been hearing things. His mind wasn't exactly reliable these days.  
She sighed. Back to the drawing board.  
*  
The next few matches came and went in quick succession. Each time they got through, they got closer to the match with Team Galra.  
Allura had dragged them to one of the Galra matches, "to show them what they were up against." The Galra played dirty, checks all over the place that almost weren't legal. Two of the opposition were carried off the rink. The Galra wiped the floor with them.  
Team Voltron had gone home with pits in their stomachs.  
"They must be cheating!" Lance finally announced during practise. "How else could they get away with that stuff?" He skated down the rink towards the goal at speed.  
"I think they're generally just within the rules," Keith replied evenly. He overtook Lance and snatched away the puck.  
"What are you on their side now?" snapped Lance.  
"No, I just - whatever." Keith slowed down and, while he was distracted, Pidge swiped the puck.  
"You're just upset because they’re faster than you," she said, knocking the puck into the net. She nodded with grim satisfaction.  
Lance speed skated around the rink, pouting.  
Hunk gazed forlornly at the puck he had failed to catch. "And stronger. And bigger."  
"There's no use moping," said Shiro. "All we can do is work hard and do our best."  
"Our best isn’t good enough," muttered Lance, skidding to a halt. "Hey, you don’t think the Galra are taking their own drugs, do you? That would explain a lot." He snapped his fingers. "We could get then disqualified! Pidge, you have that shot of Sendak. You could-"  
"I could what? Hand it in and get Shiro expelled too?" Pidge retorted.  
Lance shrugged. "Well, maybe you could get a different picture, without Shiro. He can’t be his only customer, right? He's probably working the whole street. Practically all the houses around here have security cameras outside. I bet you could hack them and find something."  
Pidge skidded to halt next to him, spraying up ice. "The houses round here have security cameras?"  
"Yeah, they're all rich and they don’t want us school kids stealing their stuff," said Hunk.  
"And they have views of the street? Near the school?"  
Hunk shrugged. "Yeah, probably."  
A grin spread over Pidge's face. "I can find the car!" she exclaimed.  
"What?" said Lance, but Pidge was already skating to the edge of the rink.  
She leaped up to the side and tore to the changing rooms. "I'll explain later!" she called behind her. In the changing room she ripped off her skates and pads before sprinting back to her dorm.  
She had work to do.  
*  
She had found it.  
There was only one house on the street that had its camera pointing at the right angle. Some of the others caught the side of the car as it flashed by, but only this one caught the number plate. The car was only onscreen for a second as it zoomed past, and the number plate was blurry, but it was there. She could even spot the shape of Sendak through the rear window.  
Now all she had to do was track it.  
There was a knock at the door. Pidge froze. What she was doing was so illegal. Quickly she started closing tabs.  
"It's me, Allura."  
Pidge sighed. Here to tell her off for skipping out on practise, she guessed. She closed the last tab, set her laptop on her bed, and opened the door.  
"Hello," said Allura cheerfully.  
Pidge narrowed her eyes. Allura was happy. Weirdly happy. She probably had some crazy punishment cooked up for her. "Hello," she replied cautiously.  
Allura peered past her. "May I come in?" she said.  
Pidge opened the door a little wider. "I guess."  
Allura slipped past her and perched at the end of the bed gracefully. She smiled up at Pidge, her eyes sparkling.  
Pidge raised an eyebrow at her. "Um, did you want something?" she said cautiously. "Look, I'm sorry about practise. It was really important."  
"Oh, I completely understand," said Allura.  
Pidge stared at her. "...you do?"  
Allura nodded enthusiastically. "I imagine it was a rather...urgent matter? An unexpected surprise?"  
Pidge nodded slowly. "I - I guess..." Where was this going?  
Allura nodded and stood up. "If there's anything you need to talk about, or any questions you need to ask - anything at all - know you can always come to me." She smiled at her expectantly.  
Pidge stared at her blankly. She realised she was supposed to say something. She must be talking about Project: Save Matt. Maybe she would be able to help?  
"Well, there is something..." Pidge began.  
Allura's eyes widened. "Yes?"  
"I found the number plate of the guys who attacked us last night. I think they were connected to my brother and father's disappearance so im going to track it and see if it leads us to them," said Pidge.  
Allura deflated slightly. "Oh," she said. Was that seriously disappointment in her voice? "Well, I would like to help in any way I can. Let me know if you find out where they are being kept."  
Pidge nodded. "Sure."  
"And-" Allura took a box out of her sports bag and pressed it into Pidge's hands. "Just in case." She left.  
Pidge looked down. It was a box of tampons. A blush rose in her face.  
Allura knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](http://daydreamsofdragons.tumblr.com/)


	10. In which Everyone has a Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team decides to stalk Team Galra

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A long one today!

"Guys! I traced the address of the car Shiro heard!" Pidge announced at lunch the next day.  
"Whose is it?" said Shiro.  
"Some guy called Zarkon," said Pidge.  
They gasped.   
Pidge blinked. "Wait, do you know something i don't?"  
"Zarkon is captain of the Galra team," said Allura gravely.  
"Oh," said Pidge.  
"We- we have go to the police," said Hunk nervously.  
"You know why we can't!" Lance hissed with a side glance at Shiro.  
Keith folded his arms. "We should follow him."  
Pidge nodded. "I agree."  
"Oh my God, you guys, this is so illegal. If we get caught-" Hunk began to ramble.  
They shushed him.  
"So, does anyone actually have a car?" said Keith.  
They looked ag each other.  
"I’m too young to drive," Pidge volunteered.  
Hunk nodded in agreement.  
"I’m great driver," said Lance.  
"Bro, you haven’t even got a permit," Hunk reminded him. "And you haven’t got a car."  
Lance sank down in his chair. "Still great though," he muttered.  
They turned to Shiro, the oldest of the group. He shrugged. "I can drive but cars are kind of expensive."  
They sighed. Then Allura's eyes brightened. "Coran has a car!"  
They stared at her.  
"We can’t just steal Coran's car!" Hunk stammered.  
Allura rolled her eyes and tapped her fork against the side of her plate. "I was thinking we could ask if we could borrow it."  
"Coran can’t just give us his car, Allura. None of us have insurance," said Shiro.  
"I bet Coran would drive us. He's a cool dude," said Lance. "We can tell him it’s a...team bonding exercise! We’re trying to figure out the other team! Anyway," Lance leaned back his chair and folded his arms smugly, "he's from New Zealand. All the laws over there are totally different! He'll have no idea."  
Allura was cringing, but the others nodded.  
"It's the best we've got," said Shiro apologetically to Allura. “I’ll go, and-“ He sighed. “I suppose Pidge will also need to.”  
Allura sniffed. "If you’re going to tail Zarkon, I’m coming as well," she said.  
"No, Allura-" Shiro began.  
"Why, because I’m female?" Allura snapped. She glanced at Pidge, and for a second Pidge wondered if she might say something. Then Allura looked away.  
"You know it’s not that, Allura," Shiro protested. "I just...don’t want you getting caught up in my problems."  
"I know; I suppose I’m just tired of being the only girl in the group." She looked across at Pidge again, who stared back coolly. "Anyway," Allura continued with a spot of irritation. "I’ve made my mind up bad there’s nothing you can do to stop me. I’m coming."  
"We're all coming," said Keith.  
Lance slammed his hands against the tabke with excitement. "Stakeout mission!" he exclaimed. "This is gonna be awesome!"  
*  
It was not awesome.  
They - Shiro, Pidge, Keith, Hunk and Allura - were cramped in the back of Coran's minivan. Coran was in the driver's seat. Lance was also in the front, because he called dibs, and he had been playing Beyoncé for over an hour. They were parked along the road, a couple of houses down from Zarkon's, so as not to arouse suspicion. The houses around here were huge - Zarkon must be rich.   
Keith had insisted that a proper stakeout should start early, so it was just after breakfast when they arrived. School would be starting in about twenty minutes. Pidge felt a slight twinge of guilt at skipping school and then lying to Coran about it – they’d told him it was a team bonding exercise allowed as part of their extra credit - but it was only slight. She had more important things to worry about.  
Zarkon's car had not moved.  
"Does anyone want a Dorito?" said Hunk. He'd almost finished the pack, but that was okay because he'd brought five.  
"No," they chorused.  
"Actually, I will," said Lance, reaching back.  
"Ssh!" Keith suddenly hissed. He held up his binoculars. "He's on the move."  
They all pressed their noses against the window. Zarkon closed his front door and walked down the driveway to his car. He had a brimming sports bag slung over his shoulder.  
"Bet its full of druuugs," Lance sang.  
Coran looked at him, shock on his face. Whoops. He didn’t know about that part.  
“I’m joking, I’m joking,” Lance muttered.  
"Shut up, Lance," said Keith, reaching forward to turn down the music.  
Zarkon pulled away.  
"Seatbelts, everyone!" said Coran as they drove forward.  
Thy all scrambled into their seats and fiddled with the seatbelts. The minivan resounded with clicks as they slid into place.  
"Here we go!" said Coran, and they drove off.  
*  
They followed Zarkon to Galra High, where he parked in the student carpark and headed inside. They watched intently for a while, but he didn’t come out.  
Lance sank down in his seat. "He goes to school! Duh!"  
Pidge got out her laptop. "I can hack the school system, see if he's doing anything interesting." She flicked through the cameras until she found him. She squinted. "Looks like maths."  
"Maths is interesting," Hunk commented.  
Lance groaned. "I almost wish i was at school."  
"You still might make it to class," said Keith. "And you can take Beyoncé with you."  
"I said almost," said Lance. "And don’t you insult my queen."  
Pidge snorted.  
"Why don’t we play a game while we wait?" Allura suggested, her blue eyes sparkling.  
Lance swivelled in his seat. "What kind of game?"  
"How about...each of us has to reveal something we haven’t told anyone," she suggested.  
"That's...not a game, Allura," said Shiro.  
"It’ll be fun though," she insisted. "I'll go first. You all know how much i want to defeat Galra."  
They all nodded wearily.  
"You also know that my father was Team Voltron's founder. However, he didn’t found Voltron alone. He had a partner. They worked their way through the tournament, but on the day of the final, my father's founding partner defected. He sabotaged the game and the Galra team won instead." Allura sighed. "My father died a short time after that."  
"Who was your father's partner?"  
Allura looked up. "Zarkon's father."  
"Woah, some family rivalry going on there," Lance remarked.  
Allura nodded. "I have to avenge my father. That’s why we have to win."  
"We will win, Allura," said Shiro.  
She smiled.  
"Me next!" Lance announced. Then he hesitated, already regretting his enthusiasm.  
"Yeah?" said Keith, arms folded.  
Lance chewed his bottom lip. "Alright." His voice was quieter than normal. "None of you guys really talk about it but - staying in dorms all the time - I'm kind of homesick. Really homesick actually," he amended. “My family is huge and it’s so weird not being with them all the time so…” He trailed off.  
"Aw, Lance!" said Hunk. "C'mere, buddy." And he wrapped Lance up in a bear hug. Lance looked embarrassed, hut he didn’t pull away.  
"I miss hugs," he muttered. And was that a glint of a tear in his eye?  
"I don't have a family to miss," said Keith suddenly.  
They looked at him.  
He shrugged. "I’m an orphan."  
Lance's eyes widened. "But- where do you go during the holidays?"  
"I don't."  
"What about-" Lance made a funny noise in his throat. "Where did you when you got kicked out?"  
"I lived by myself," said Keith.  
Hunk grabbed him and pulled him into the bear hug too. "We'll be your family. Keith," he said, his choked with emotion. "I love you, man."  
"Um, thanks." Keith glanced around. "So, uh, Hunk, what's your secret?" he said, desperate to change the subject.  
Hunk let them go. Keith sighed in relief. "I-I have anxiety," said Hunk, looking a little embarrassed. "That’s why I throw up all the time."  
"And why you’re scared of literally everything," Lance remarked.  
Allura glared at him. "Thank you for that, Lance."  
Lance shrugged and mouthed 'what?'  
"You know, I feel a lot better now," said Hunk happily. "I’ve wanted to tell you guys that for ages. How about you, Shiro?"  
"You know my secret already," said Shiro. "I told you everything I remember."  
Lance leaned in, one eyebrow raised. "Everything?"  
Shiro nodded. "If I remember any crazy secrets, I'll let you know," he said in a joking voice.  
Coran turned in his seat. "I have a secret," he said.  
"You do?" said Allura incredulously.  
"I know this isn’t just a team bonding exercise," said Coran.  
"Where did he get that idea?" Lance whispered with genuine surprise.  
"I also know about the drug problem and how it connects to the kerfuffle the other night."  
"Wha-how did you know about that?" said Hunk.  
"I worked it out, of course," said Coran. "I’m actually quite intelligent."  
"So why didn’t you stop us doing this?" Keith asked.  
"Ah," said Coran. "I knew that you would go ahead and do it anyway, you see. So when you asked me I agreed so I keep make sure you were safe."  
"Aw, thanks, Coran," said Lance. "Told you he was a cool dude," he said to the others.  
"And you, Pidge?" said Allura. "What is your secret?"  
Pidge, who until now had been sitting quietly watching Zarkon on her laptop, looked up and narrowed her eyes. Allura was smiling at her knowingly. So this 'game' had all been a ploy to get Pidge to out herself to the group. Unbelievable. She hesitated as she tried to think of another secret to tell.  
They were all looking at her.  
"I don’t think Pidge wants to share," said Shiro, giving her a look of concern.  
"C'mon, Pidge, we've all said something," Lance complained.  
"He doesn’t have to say anything he doesn’t want to," said Hunk resolutely. "That's part of friendship too, you know."  
"I’m sure you'll a lot better once you’ve told us though, won’t you Pidge?" Allura pressed.  
Shiro folded his arms. "You can’t just force someone to give you their personal information, Allura," he said, getting irritated now.  
"I’m not forcing!" said Allura, looking hurt. "I’m trying to help!"  
Pidge rolled her eyes. She gave up. "Fine! I’ll tell you my secret - if only to stop you all bickering.” She sighed. “I should have told you already anyway. So…this might change how you think of me – I-I hope it doesn’t but-"  
"What is it?" said Keith impatiently.  
Pidge hesitated. Might as well come out and say it. "I'm a girl," she said.  
Lance's jaw hit the floor. "You're a what?" he exclaimed.  
Allura nodded smugly. Shiro patted her on the back.  
"Awesome! I've always wanted a little sister!" said Hunk, pulling her in for a hug. Hunk was an honest to God teddy bear.  
"I’m glad you decided to tell us," said Allura, looking pleased with herself. "I knew we had a lot in common."  
“How did you even know?” said Pidge. “I was so careful.”  
Allura shrugged apologetically. “I’d never heard of Matt having a brother. So I did some research and – well.” She hesitated. "Sorry for trying to force you to tell everyone, Pidge." She had the decency to look embarrassed.  
"It's alright," said Pidge. She glanced down at her laptop. "Wait! Where's Zarkon?"  
They crowded around the laptop. Zarkon's classroom was now empty.  
"Quiznak!" Lance swore.  
"His lesson mist have finished," said Hunk.  
Pidge flicked through the cameras. "There!"  
Zarkon was walking across the grounds with Sendak and a couple of others on the team.  
"He's heading for his car!" Pidge hissed. This was it.  
"Maybe he has a free period and he's going out for a snack?" said Hunk.  
They looked at him.  
He shrugged. "What? That's what I would do."  
Keith shook his head. "No, look. They're carrying sports bags. They're going to ice hockey practice."  
Sure enough, they all had surprisingly light looking sports bags slung over their shoulders.  
"They're going during school?" said Allura.  
"Galra High takes its sports seriously. They get a lot of funding," said Keith. "It's probably letting them train during school because of the final."  
"And you know that because..." Lance said.  
"Maybe I looked into it once, alright?" said Keith with irritation.  
Lance held up his hands. "Alright, alright!"  
"Speaking of training, that’s what we should be doing," Coran remarked.  
"We will, we will. As soon as we rescue my brother and father," said Pidge.  
Coran sighed. "I tried," he muttered.  
Zarkon and his team got into his car.  
"Follow them!" said Pidge urgently.  
Coran shook his head. "Patience, grasshopper. If we go as soon as they do, it'll be obvious we’re following them.  
"Oh, yeah," said Pidge, feeling stupid. She watched, fidgeting, as Zarkon's car rolled out of the carpark. The adrenaline made her legs ache, but she stayed quiet.  
"Okay, everyone, hold on tight!" said Coran at last. He screeched into gear with a clunk. "Whoops"  
They followed the car out of the carpark and down the road.  
Zarkon pulled up a few minutes later outside Galra High Rink.  
"What!" Lance exclaimed. "They get their own private ice rink?"  
"I told you, they have money," said Keith.  
Zarkon and co got out the car and headed inside.   
"Are there cameras in there? Can you hack them?" said Hunk.  
Pidge tapped away at her computer. "I can get feed from the front desk, but not the rink or anywhere else. Looks like Team Galra is pretty paranoid." She smirked. "With good reason."  
They watched as the Galra walked through the door and disappeared into the changing rooms. They didn’t come out.  
"There must be another door leading to the rink," said Keith.  
Lance sighed. "Ughh. This is just making me want to practice."  
"I could always drive you to our rink, do some training-," Coran began.  
"No, we've got to keep watching," said Pidge. Something about the team was bothering her. But she couldn’t figure out what it was. She just needed more time.  
Keith folded his arms. "Look, obviously the Galra team is so good because they train constantly. Not because of illegal drugs." He glared at Lance.  
"Still, we should wait until they come out. Just to make sure," said Allura.  
They watched. They waited. For two hours. Until, finally, the Galra left the building and headed back to their car, sports bags bulging.  
Lance flopped in his seat. "This was such a waste of time," he wailed. "Why didn’t I bring my DS?"  
Keith snorted. "Missing your nintendogs?"  
"As a matter of fact, yes, I am," snapped Lance. "So shut your quiznak."  
Allura's eyes went wide. "Language, Lance!"  
"I don’t think your using that word correctly," said Keith.  
They followed Zarkon for the rest of the day, but all he did was go back to school, hang out in the local diner with his team, then go home and stay there. Still, they watched. It got to 2am, and, at last, Team Voltron had to accept.  
"So we didn’t find anything? At all?" said Hunk.  
They were sitting in the van in Castle Academy carpark. The floor was littered with empty Dorito packets.  
"What were you expecting? A secret base?" said Keith.  
Hunk shrugged. "I dunno. Something cool, i guess. Maybe a side alley drug deal at midnight or something. Not school, at least."  
"Maybe he doesn’t do those on Wednesdays,” said Lance sarcastically.  
"I think we need to keep looking, " said Pidge. "We should come back every day this week, see if we can-"  
"No," Shiro cut across her. "We can’t keep doing this. We need to actually do some training."  
"But-" Pidge began.  
"Sorry, Pidge, but Shiro is right," said Coran. "You need to practise for the big match coming up."  
They looked at him blankly.  
Coran sighed dramatically. "You know, the big match. Against the Galra. That’s coming up in-" He held up his fingers to count. "-six- yep, six days. Ring a bell?"  
"Six days?!" Lance exclaimed.  
"I want to see you all at the rink tomorrow, ready to practise for the game of your lives. Agreed?"  
They nodded reluctantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](http://daydreamsofdragons.tumblr.com/)


	11. In which Voltron and Galra do Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the big match has arrived.

It was the day of the match. Allura had taken on an intense expression that frightened away almost everyone who saw her. The others didn’t hide their nerves so well. Hunk had already thrown up twice.  
Coran arrived for his pep talk just as Hunk was coming back from the bathroom.  
"Now, everyone, I know you're nervous. But remember, you've trained very hard and i want you to be proud of yourselves no matter what happens."  
"What is going to happen is you are going to win," Allura interjected. "You have to." Her expression was severe.  
"Yes, Allura," they chorused.  
"Time to go!" Coran announced.  
They trailed out of the changing rooms.  
The crowd today was huge. It was the final after all. The audience loomed above them, shouting and cheering.   
Hunk clutched his stomach. "I think I’m gonna be sick."  
"Again? How much did you eat for breakfast?" Lance exclaimed. His face was paler than usual.  
Their first match, against the Balmerans, went pretty well. They were a friendly, easy going team - the two groups had even met up a few times. And Team Voltron knew all their strategies.  
And then it was time for the Galra match. Obviously, the Galra would beat their first opponent. No one had doubted it, even for a second. They had absolutely destroyed them.  
"We are going to beat them," said Allura firmly, but even her usual collected demeanour had slipped a bit.  
They headed out onto the rink. Pidge stared across at the Galra centre. He was huge. He had to be at least twice her height. Pidge gritted her teeth against her mouth guard. She could do this. She could. The other centre glared back at her with cold eyes. No mercy there. But she would be fine. She would be-  
The referee dropped the puck and Pidge immediately lost it. The Galra team shot it towards their goal and scored.  
Back to starting positions. That was okay. A bad start, but it was only one point. She could shoot.  
If she could ever get a hold of the puck. The Galra were just too fast - inhumanly so. By the end of the first period, Team Voltron was losing. They weren't even close.  
"We are being slaughtered out there!" exclaimed Lance at the interval.  
"You're not working as a team!" said Allura. She put her hands on her hips. "You have to focus!"  
"Sorry, Allura, we're doing our best," said Shiro. "They're just a lot faster and stronger than we are."  
"Maybe if you'd spent more time at the rink, instead of following them around on a wild goose chase, you'd be the stronger and faster ones!" Allura snapped.  
Keith cast the Galra a side glance. "Don't you think their strategy is kind of strange?" he said.  
"What's that supposed to mean?" said Lance.  
Keith shrugged. "Well, it's kind of like…they…"  
"Don't have one?" Pidge finished.  
"Yes! Yes, that. Thank you, Pidge," said Keith.  
Hunk sighed. "They don't need one, do they? They just steal the puck and shoot it at me at a million miles an hour."  
"Don't lose hope, everyone!" said Coran, clapping his hands together. "Work as a team, and you'll soon be back on track."  
"Sure, " muttered Keith.  
They skated out to start the next period.  
This time, Pidge actually managed to get the puck. She skated towards the goal and passed to Keith, who passed to Lance, who scored.  
"Yes!" Lance screeched, muffled through his mouth guard. He victory skated around the rink, hands in the air and barrelled straight into Keith. Keith clapped him on the back – for Keith, that was the equivalent of a tight hug.  
The goal had given Voltron a new energy, and the rest if the period went a little better.  
"Good job, guys. If we keep this up, we might actually be able to beat them," said Shiro.  
The whole team was panting. Hunk bent forward, clutching his stomach. "I’m not sure we can keep this up, Shiro. They’re so fast! They’re like- they’re like-"  
Coran held out a finger. "A pack of hungry yalmors!"  
They looked at him. Allura shrugged. Even she didn’t know what he was talking about. They didn’t, half the time.  
"You can do this!" said Allura firmly, eyes shining with determination. "Just give it everything you’ve got for twenty more minutes, and we could be the next owners of the Championship Trophy."  
"We'll do our best, Allura," said Pidge.  
Allura smiled. "I know you will."  
They skated out for the final period.  
It started off well. Pidge took the puck and skate for the goal. Then a Galra player sped towards her, hard focus in his eyes. She swerved, spraying up ice, and passed to Lance. He kept going. Suddenly, Sendak appeared from nowhere. He slammed straight into Lance and knocked him flying. Lance flew across the ice and slammed into the opposite barrier with a loud crack. The whistle blew, but Sendak had already scored.  
The crack had been loud. Her stomach twisting, Pidge skated over to Lance. Keith was already at his side.  
"You okay, buddy? Lance?" He grabbed his arm and gave it a shake. "Lance!"  
Lance stirred, but he didn’t wake up. A swollen purple bruise was already forming over his eye and forehead. Keith squeezed his hand.  
The medical team hurried over and ushered the team away.  
"Is he going to be alright?" Shiro asked.  
"I couldn't say," said the medical assistant. "We'll have to assess him. It’s likely he'll at least have concussion.  
They watched as Lance was carried away on a stretcher.  
In the background, Team Galra was celebrating. In their minds, they'd already won. Keith clenched his fists. He marched towards them. Pidge skated after him.  
"Keith, no!" she said. She grabbed his arm, but he shrugged her off.  
He marched right up to the laughing Sendak and took a deep breath. Sendak turned.  
And Keith punched him in the face   
He went down howling. The crowd screamed.  
And suddenly the entire Galra team had descended on Keith. Pidge and the rest of Voltron skated into the fray.  
Shiro grabbed Keith by the shoulders and tried to pull him back. Keith struggled and kicked at the Galra. "Keith, stop!" Shiro roared.  
The crowd was going wild. The referee blew his whistle, over and over again. Pidge and Hunk grabbed each of Keith's arms and together they yanked him away. They skidded back and tumbled into a heap on the ice.  
Several officials stormed over.  
"Disqualified!" one of them shouted. "Team Voltron, off the rink."  
Shiro picked himself up. "Disqualified? We can't be disqualified!"  
"Your team attacked your opponent," said the official. "We are perfectly within our rights to disqualify you from the tournament."  
"But Team Galra attacked us too!" Pidge began, but the official just blew his whistle again.  
"Off!" he snapped.  
They trailed off the rink.  
*  
"What were you thinking?" Allura demanded.  
They had just arrived back at the academy in disgrace. Lance had concussion, but he'd been allowed to leave the medical room. He was holding a bag of frozen peas to his head. His right eye had gone purple and puffy. He wouldn't be allowed to play ice hockey again for at least three weeks.  
"Yeah, Keith, what were you thinking," Lance muttered. His eyes weren't quite focused.  
"I avenged you, Lance!" Keith snapped. "I punched Sendak!"  
"Uh huh," said Lance.  
Keith looked distraught. "We had a bonding moment!" His voice cracked. "I cradled you in my arms!"  
Lance shook his head and winced at the motion. "No, nope. Don't remember, didn't happen."  
Keith sighed.  
Allura put her hands on her hips. "It wasn't just Keith. All of you ended up in the fight. I can't believe-"  
"We were trying to get Keith out of it!" Shiro protested.  
"Y-yeah! And one of the Galra punched me in the stomach!" said Hunk. "It hurt!"  
Allura pursed her lips and glared at them. Then she sighed, deflated. " None of it matters now anyway," she said. "We were disqualified, and Team Galra won by default. Team Voltron is finished." She clenched her teeth, but a tear still leaked out her eye.  
"Shouldn't the Galra have been disqualified too? Sendak hit Lance way harder than he needed to. And don't you think their speed and strength was a little…abnormal?" said Pidge, still clutching at straws.  
"So what? They trained harder than us and they won," said Keith bitterly.  
"Yeah but-"  
"Just…drop it, Pidge," said Lance. He was hunched over, and the peas obscured half his face.  
"I'm going back to my dorm," said Allura. She wiped her eyes angrily. "Goodbye." She walked off.  
"I'm going too," said Lance. "I need to lie down."  
"I'll come too - you shouldn't be alone for the first forty-eight hours of concussion, you know," said Keith.  
Lance gave him a small smile.  
"Sorry, Pidge," said Hunk heading off.  
Shiro patted her on the back. "I'll see you later, alright?" he said.  
And then she was alone.  
It couldn't be over, could it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Tumblr](http://daydreamsofdragons.tumblr.com/)


	12. In which Every Villain has a Secret Base

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge realises she missed something and goes to investigate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER WOW but it's also the longest so you're welcome
> 
> Also, thank you so much for your lovely comments! I love love love reading them :)
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy the final chapter...

Pidge was curled up on her bed with her laptop. Tumblr was open, but she wasn't really looking as she scrolled mindlessly.  
They had to have missed something. Sendak couldn't possibly had sent Lance flying the way he did. That was some serious force. He hit the other end of the rink, for goodness sake!  
But no one would believe her. Team Voltron wasn't much of a team anymore. They'd barely spoken since the game.  
Pidge flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. She'd stuck some glow stars up there, and they shone dimly in the dark.  
What had they missed?  
Something had been bothering her since they'd followed Team Galra to their ice rink. But she couldn't think what. And it was driving her crazy. She looked over at her sports bag. She hadn't even unpacked it after the game, just thrown it unceremoniously in the corner and tried to ignore it. It had been almost a week. She really should put it away. They had room checks tomorrow, and it took up practically the entire dorm.  
She rolled off the bed and picked up the bag. It was heavy.  
And suddenly she knew what had been bothering her.  
When Zarkon and friends had gone into the ice rink, their sports bags had been light She'd remembered thinking it was odd. And then when they left, the bags had been bulging.  
She dropped her own sports bag, eyes wide. It squashed her foot. She kicked it away.  
She had to tell them. They had to go back to the ice rink.  
*  
They were sitting in Coran's minivan.  
"This is dumb," said Lance. The swelling in his face had started to go down now. His eye had gone an interesting mix of yellow and green. Once again, he had called dibs on the front seat. No one had wanted to argue - not with his face bashed up like that.  
"I think we just have to accept we lost, Pidge," said Shiro. "We can try again next year."  
"If they allow us back next year," Allura muttered.  
"My brother can't wait a year!" Pidge snapped.  
"I wasn't suggesting that, Pidge," said Shiro wearily.  
Pidge ignored him. "I know there's something strange about this place," she insisted. She stared out the window. "Hey, isn't that Zarkon and Sendak? What are they doing here? Season's over."  
They pressed their noses against the glass. The two Galra players were heading up the path. Their sports bags looked light, just like last time.  
Pidge jabbed her fingers against the window. "Look at their bags. Don't you think that's weird?"  
Hunk shrugged. "Maybe it's a little bit weird. But- I don't know Pidge."  
Keith started to undo his seatbelt. "I'm following them in."  
"Seriously, Keith, no, you'll get caught," said Lance, but Keith was already out the door. Lance looked back the others. "We should stop him, right?"  
No one moved.  
"If we try to stop him now we'll cause a scene. And then we will get caught," said Shiro.  
"Keith's not an idiot. He'll be careful," said Pidge. "And he has his phone. He can call us."  
"'Keith's not an idiot'" Lance mimiced. "Uh huh, sure."  
"Are you sure there aren't any camera in there, Pidge?" said Hunk nervously.  
"Sorry, guys. Like I said before, Team Galra is paranoid."  
Lance groaned. "So all we can do is wait? What if Keith gets caught?"  
Pidge jabbed him playfully. "Aw, you're worried about him!"  
The tips of Lance's ears turned pink. "What? No! He- I just don't him to rat us out - that's all!" he protested.  
Pidge just grinned.  
"He's blushing!" Hunk squealed, clapping his hands together with glee.  
"Am not!"  
"I think you two are very cute," said Allura.  
"Allura, no!" Lance's phone buzzed.  
"Is it your boyfriend?" Pidge teased.  
Lance glared at her and glanced at his phone. He deflated. "It's Keith," he muttered.  
Pidge snorted as he answered.  
"Uh, hey, buddy. What's going on?" said Lance, glaring at the rest of them. He turned it onto loudspeaker.  
"I followed them in," came Keith's voice, tinny through the phone. "They went into the changing rooms and I waited but they didn't come out. So I went in and-"  
"You walked in on them changing? What the heck, Keith?" said Lance.  
"No! They were gone."  
"Maybe they went onto the rink through a different door," Shiro suggested.  
"There aren't any other doors in here," said Keith.  
"They probably walked right past without you noticing," said Lance.  
"I'm not blind, Lance. I would have noticed a team of ice hockey players in full gear walking past me," Keith retorted. "Plus, they're not on the rink."  
"Come back to the car, Keith. I don’t want you putting yourself in danger," said Shiro.  
"I'm going to have a look around," said Keith, and hung up.  
"What the heck, Keith?!" Lance demanded to empty air.  
Hunk was tapping his fingers against the glass nervously.  
"Quit it, Hunk," said Lance.  
"Sorry, guys. I'm just - I'm trying to keep my mind off the fact that Keith is in enemy territory and he could get caught at any moment and then he could get us caught and we'll all get into big tr-"  
Pidge took his arm and gently lowered it away from the window. "It'll be okay, Hunk. Don't worry. Anyway, we're just sitting here. We can't get into trouble for that."  
"But Keith-"  
Lance's phone buzzed again. They all jumped.  
"Just Keith," said Lance. He answered the phone. "Sup?"  
"Okay, so I had a look around and I couldn't find Sendak or Zarkon anywhere. So I went back the changing rooms and-"  
"What?" Lance interrupted.  
"I noticed that there were marks on the floor under one of the lockers, like it had been moved back and forth. So I moved it and there was a door."  
Pidge sat up. "A door?"  
"Yeah. And on the other side there are stairs going down," said Keith.  
Hunk gasped. "A secret base! I knew it!"  
"And I bet Zarkon and Sendak are down there," said Pidge grimly. Her eyes widened. "Maybe Matt and my father are there too."  
"I'm sure Galra wouldn't have done something like that," said Shiro, but his tone was doubtful. His forehead creased up and he clutched his head. "I'm sure…" He trailed off.  
Pidge leapt up. "I'm going in."  
"Pidge! No!" Shiro began.  
"I'm going as well," said Allura. "I won't let you go in alone, Pidge."  
Pidge nodded at her.  
Shiro sighed. "Fine. I'll come too."  
"And me!" said Lance.  
They looked at him.  
"No offence, Lance, but you literally have concussion," said Hunk.  
"I'm fine! I can't just sit here while Keith wanders around a secret enemy base." He hesitated. "And you guys too, obviously," he added.  
Pidge rolled her eyes.  
"Well, obviously I'd rather not go…" Hunk was tapping the window nervously again. "But if Lance decides to faint-"  
"Hey!"  
"-I'll need to look after him so…I guess I'll come as well," Hunk finished.  
Shiro nodded. "Coran?"  
Coran shook his head. "I'll stay here and hold the fort. You might need me for a quick getaway."  
"Good plan. Hopefully we'll see you soon."  
"Stay in touch!" said Coran, giving them a thumbs up.  
"Alright, Keith, we'll see you in a bit," said Pidge.  
"Okay." He hung up.  
They left the van and headed inside.  
*  
There was no one in the foyer, not even a security guard. Hunk looked up at the camera in the corner anxiously.  
"What if someone's watching?" he asked.  
Pidge shook her head. "Don't worry. When Keith decided to go I hacked the camera so I could feed them a loop. They can't see us."  
Hunk chewed his lip. "Are you sure?"  
Pidge raised an eyebrow. "Are you doubting my hacking skills, Hunk?"  
Hunk looked at her. "No, nope." he said. "I trust you, Pidge."  
Pidge grinned. "Good."  
They headed to the changing rooms. Which were empty.  
"Where's Keith?" said Lance.  
Shiro headed over to the lockers. One had been moved, and, sure enough, there was a door behind it.  
But no Keith.  
"He didn't seriously think it was a good idea to go in all by himself, did he?" said Allura, peering at the door.  
"Apparently," said Pidge irritably.  
"I knew we shouldn't have let him go in," Lance groaned. "Trust Keith."  
"I'll go first," said Shiro. He put his hand on the handle and listened. Nothing from the other side. Cautiously, he pushed it open.  
The stairs lead down into ominous blackness.  
"I guess…we're going in there, aren't we?" said Hunk. He looked wistfully towards the exit, then back at Lance. He took a deep breath. "Okay, let's go."  
*  
They crept down the corridor, their footsteps echoing. It was dark, and it smelled of damp and mould. There was a purple sheen to the walls.  
"Keith?" Lance tried.  
Pidge reached up and clamped her hand over his mouth. "What if Sendak and Zarkon hear you?" she hissed.  
Lance licked her hand in response. She snatched it away in disgust and wiped it on his jacket.  
"Got it," he whispered smugly.  
Shiro peered around the corner, then beckoned to them. There were two doors on one side and one on the other. The corridor continued on around a corner.  
"Maybe Keith's in one of them," said Lance.  
"Or my family," said Pidge.  
Shiro crept forward and tried the first door. "Locked."  
Lance grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Good job you brought along the Lockpick King."  
"Where?" said Hunk, looking around   
Lance rolled his eyes. "It's me, Hunk."  
Hunk blinked. "Oh."  
"So, anyone got a hair pin or two?" said Lance.  
Allura pulled a couple from her bun and handed then over.  
Lance grinned. "Awesome." He knelt down at the door, stuck the hair pins into the lock and fiddled around.  
Pidge raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"  
"Course I do," said Lance. There was a click. "There," he said smugly.  
Shiro stepped forward. "I'll go first."  
Lance pouted. "Why you?"  
"Because I’m team captain," Shiro replied. He pushed open the door. It swung open silently.  
The room was roughly the size of the changing rooms above them. Except this one was lined with shelves upon shelves of bottles filled with a translucent purple liquid. At the back of the room, there was another shelf with bottles of blue liquid. Shiro stumbled back.  
Allura touched his shoulder. "Are you alright, Shiro?" she said with concern.  
Shiro squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them. His breathing was fast and irregular. "I've seen these before," he said.  
They looked at each other.  
"What are they?" asked Pidge.  
Shiro pointed at the back. "The blue ones are called Kerberos. That's what I was hooked on before." He gritted his teeth and forced his eyes away to focus on the purple stuff. "The other one...I feel like I've had it but I don’t..." He winced. "I think I was forced to."  
"By the Galra?" asked Pidge. She peered at the label of the purple bottle. Quintessence 37.  
"Maybe." Shiro looked troubled. "Let's try a different door." He was already backing out of the room.  
Lance grabbed a purple and a blue bottle and stuffed then in his pockets. "Gotta keep some evidence for the police," he said to their questioning faces   
He unlocked the next door. Inside was a metal table that reminded Pidge of hospitals and operations. Next to it was an empty drip and a cabinet. Pidge pulled open the draw. It was full of needles. She looked around at the others, eyes wide.  
Hunk covered his mouth, horrified. Lance looked confused. Allura looked angry. And Shiro was crouched on the floor, shaking.  
"I-I've been here," he said. "I remember -injections. I couldn’t move."  
Allura took his arm and helped him up. She patted his shoulder gently. "It's okay, Shiro," she said. "You're safe with us."  
Shiro nodded. "They did experiments here," he said. “The purple stuff.”  
"Were my brother and father here?" asked Pidge.  
Shiro hesitated, then nodded.  
Pidge was already marched for the last door. "They're here. I know they are."  
Lance hurried after her. "What about Keith? This place could be huge. He could be anywhere." He took his phone out his pocket. "I’m calling him."  
Hunk grabbed his arm. "Dude, no! What if he's hiding? You'll give him away."  
Too late. Lance had already hit call.  
Keith's phone rang out. They froze. It was coming from behind them. As one, they turned back to the injection room. Slowly, Pidge followed the sound to the cabinet and pulled out the phone. She looked at them.  
"They got him," she whispered.  
Lance gritted his teeth.  
"Open the door, Lance," said Allura, clutching at Shiro.  
He unlocked it and kicked it open. He ran inside. "Keith!"  
They bundled in. Keith was lying on the floor, arms and legs tied, with a cloth in his mouth. And behind him...  
"Matt! Dad!" Pidge stumbled forward and knelt next to them. She pulled at their ropes. "I found you," she sobbed. "I finally found you."  
Lance hurried over to Keith. "Why'd you go in alone, idiot."  
Keith tried to say something, but it was muffles through the cloth and only came out as a grunt.  
"I'm untying you first, buddy. We have to get out of here," said Lance, fiddling with the ropes.  
"Mmm!" said Keith.  
Lance rolled his eyes.  
"MMM!" Keith repeated with urgency.  
"Fine!" Lance yanked out the cloth.  
Keith took a deep breath. "Behind you!"  
They spun around.  
Zarkon and Sendak were standing in the doorway.  
Allura spin into action. She pinned Sendak against the wall with enough force that she left a dent in the wall.  
"You've kept them here all this time? How dare you?" she yelled.  
Sendak didn’t reply. He appeared to be choking.  
Shiro hadn’t moved fast enough. Zarkon was already on him. He had a needle of the Kerberos in his hand.  
"You're not going to escape this time, 'champion'" he snarled. Shiro tried and failed to push him away. "But don’t worry," Zarkon continued, "you won’t remember a thing." He raised the needle.  
Pidge sprung to her feet and flew at Zarkon. Rage propelled her forward. He barely had time to react before she had leapt onto his back and snatched the needle from his hands. He reached up and pushed her backwards. She landed on the head and the needle rolled out of her hands across the floor. Pain jarred through her skull. Her vision blurred. Purple spots danced in front of her eyes. She tried to focus. Shiro was slumped on the floor in some kind of shock. She tried to sit up, grabbling for the needle. Lance leapt up and made a grab for it. Zarkon dived towards him and knocked him aside. His fingertips touched it.  
And then Shiro was up, yanking Zarkon away. He clenched his fists and caught him in the side of the head. Zarkon snarled and swung his fist into Shiro's stomach.  
Pidge saw her chance. Head pounding, she snatched up the needle. Lance helped her up.  
"Get him, Pidge," he whispered, before jumping in defend join Shiro. Zarkon had beat him to his knees. Blood poured out of a gash in his head.  
Lance leapt between then. "Nahnah, nahnah, boo, boo!" he yelled, and Zarkon turned on him.  
"Lance!" Keith yelled. He pulled himself up and leapt in to fight.  
Hunk, who had been untying Matt and Pidge's father, joined in too.  
Zarkon was now totally overwhelmed. But he was so strong, possibly stronger than all of them combined. He had already tossed Lance aside.  
Pidge looked at the needle. She had no idea what effect it might have.  
Here goes nothing," she muttered. She leapt up and jabbed Zarkon in the neck.  
For a moment, nothing happened. Then Zarkon stiffened. He let go of Keith, who dropped to the floor like a ragdoll. Then Hunk pushed into him, and he toppled to the floor with a loud thud. Hunk stood back in awe.  
"Wow," he breathed. “Did I do that?”  
Pidge poked Zarkon cautiously with her toe. He didn’t move, but grunted. "Whoops," she said, without a trace of regret.  
Shiro sat up, rubbing his head. "That must have been...a really high dose."  
"We-we should call the police," said Hunk. "Like now."  
"Be my guest, Hunk," Lance muttered. He tried to sit up. Keith took his arm and helped him. He pulled him into a hug.  
"Are you okay, Lance?" said Keith.  
Lance was bright red all over. He patted Keith on the shoulder awkwardly, their roles suddenly reversed. "I should ask you the same question," he said.  
Keith didn’t reply, just hugged him tighter.  
Watching them gave Pidge a pang. She turned behind her, and looked into her father's eyes for the first time in a year. She scrambled over to him and her brother and they fell into each other, sobbing.  
"I missed you so much," cried Pidge, her chest heaving.  
Matt ruffled her hair. "I knew you'd rescue us, Katie," he whispered.  
Pidge pulled back and looked at him, tears dripping down her face. He was thin, and his cheeks were sunken. But he was alive. He was alive.  
*  
It was two weeks later. Matt and her father had spent the last couple weeks in hospital being treated for malnutrition, dehydration, and whatever effects the drugs the Galra had given them had. But, finally, they had been allowed to go home.  
Everyone had been questioned by the police. And they had told them everything.  
Team Galra had been arrested, permanently disqualified from the championships, and their title had been stripped - apparently they really had been doping, with their own blend of drug tested by...guess who.  
Matt and her father still couldn’t talk about that part.  
"Will we be seeing you after the holidays, Pidge?" Shiro asked. He'd been temporarily suspended from the team, but he would be allowed back if he agreed to go to counselling sessions.  
They and the rest of Team Voltron were standing on the drive outside the dorms, bags packed and ready to go home for the holidays.  
Pidge smiled. "I hope so. I haven’t decided if I’ll come back as Pidge or Katie though."  
Shiro patted her on the back. "You can still be part of the team whatever you decide."  
Pidge's eyes brightened. "Really? Even though it’s the men's hockey team?"  
Allura nodded enthusiastically. "Of course. You have more than proven yourself."  
Hunk pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "I'm gonna miss you so much, little dude!" he cried. He pulled away. "I can still can you that, right? Dude?" he added, looking a little worried.  
Pidge laughed. "Dude is fine."  
A blue SUV pulled into the car park. Lance grabbed Keith by the hand. "Gotta go, our ride's here," he said. He waved at the car enthusiastically. "I'll see you guys after the holidays, right?"  
Pidge gave him a thumbs up.  
"Bye!" said Hunk, waving. "I'm gonna visit, like, every day."  
Lance grinned. "See ya, bud. C'mon, Keith."  
Keith waved back at them as they got into the car. Lance couldn’t bear the idea of Keith staying at the school all alone for another holiday, so he'd insisted on him staying over at his house. He had also insisted it was just as friends, but everyone knew better.  
As the car drove away, a bus pulled up outside the school. Pidge picked up her bags.  
"That'll be me," she said. "I'll see you guys in a few weeks, okay?"  
"Bye, Pidge!" they chorused.  
She climbed onto the bus and waved until Team Voltron had disappeared into the distance. She turned back to the front and plugged into her headphones. She smiled as the bus hurtled down the highway and towards her family, united at last.  
***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU FOR READING!  
> I've never really written fanfiction before but I honestly had so much fun, and I hope you enjoyed reading it :)
> 
> [My Tumblr](http://daydreamsofdragons.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> Please note: I did some research but I've never played ice hockey in my life, so if you noticed anything not quite right, let me know!  
> [My Tumblr](http://daydreamsofdragons.tumblr.com/)


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